BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (February 15, 2011) – With only four games remaining in the regular season schedule for both the men's and women's basketball teams, each game is becoming more crucial than the previous in terms of seeding in the conference. The Molloy Lions will provide another test inside ECC play on Wednesday night for a doubleheader in Rockville Centre.

 

The C.W. Post have been alternating wins and losses for the past eight games, with the latest a victory over NYIT in the Pratt Center this past Saturday, 75-65. Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) led the way with 24 points, as the Pioneers shot 49.2 percent from the field, compared to NYIT shooting percentage of 28.4. Since coming back from injury a few weeks ago, sophomore Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) has taken each a game as an opportunity to get better and better, and that continued with her 12 points, six assist, and 3 steal performance against NYIT.

 

Aiken's 24 points pushed her average to 16.4 points a game on the season, keeping her fourth in the conference. Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) is the other Pioneer averaging double-figures at 11.5 points a game. The Pioneers also continue to have a major advantage against opponents on the boards with a +3.1 rebounding margin per game, led by Alyssa Lombardi's (New Fairfield, Conn.) 8.5 boards a game. 

 

Being only two games behind C.W. Post in the ECC standings, the Lions of Molloy will look to cut into that gap during Wednesday's game. Molloy enters the week at 7-17 overall, with a 7-10 conference mark to put them sixth in the conference. The last time out for the Lions was this past Saturday as well, as the team lost a tough game at Bridgeport, 68-60. 

 

On the season, sophomore Ashley Addison has been the lone Molloy player averaging double-figures at 10.8 points a game. Addison rank among the top in the ECC with her 40.6 percentage from beyond the arc. Graduate student Delmara Reece ranks second in the conference with 10.6 rebounds a game to go along with her 8.8 points a game. As a team, the Lions lead the conference in denying shots with 5.17 blocked shots a game, with Caitlin Wheeler leading the way on the team and conference with 3.75 rejections a game of her own.

 

Thus far on the season, the Pioneers have taken both of the previous match-ups between these two teams. The first game was back on December 11 at Molloy, with C.W. Post pulling out the 71-50 victory behind Nicolette Marciniak's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 15 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Shatima Greer (Central Islip, N.Y.) also contributed 11 points and eight rebounds with Lombardi pulling down 12 rebounds of her own to give C.W. Post a 49-35 rebounding advantage. No Molloy players managed to reach double-figures. The outcome may have been more in the favor of C.W. Post if it wasn't for the play of Wheeler, who denied six Pioneer shots over the course of the game.

 

The January 22 matchup was a more tightly battled contest, with the Pioneers edging out the 49-41 win. After being down 19-20 at the half, Greer once again had her way with the Lions as she poured in 12 of her 16 points in the second half, going along with 11 rebounds as well. Aiken contributed 13 points, with the Pioneers holding a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint, while also controlling second chance points, 15-4. 

 

The men's game of the doubleheader will be a rubber match between C.W. Post and Molloy as the two have spilt the season series thus far. The latest game for C.W. Post was an 81-73 victory this past Saturday against NYIT. Four players reached double figures for the Pioneers, with Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) leading the way with 16 points. Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.) was the last Pioneer in double-figures at 10 points to go along with his 11 assists on the day. C.W. Post shot 49.2 percent from the field while holding a 2.00 assists to turnover ratio for the game.

 

Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) continues to lead the conference in scoring with 18.8 points per game. The junior guard is leading the way for the Pioneers, who as a team are averaging a conference leading 80.4 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field. The offense has had good control as well, moving the ball efficiently as the squad leads the ECC in assists per game at 16.71. This statistic has been greatly influenced by the talents of Butler to go out and find his open teammates, but maybe more importantly that senior point guard Gilbert Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) has been consistent with 5.88 assists a game. Montalvo has reached 10-plus assists on a few occasions this year, and seems to always find the open man in a crowd.

 

Molloy is led by the likely-choice for ECC Rookie of the Year. John Petrucelli has been named Rookie of the Week seven times out of the 13 possible weeks thus far, being among the top in many categories as a freshman. Currently, the freshman is second in scoring at 15.3 points a game, third in rebounds with 6.6 rebounds a game, and is the top at steals per game with 2.95 a game. 

 

Sophomore Jimmy Nolan is currently leading the ECC in minutes played per game at 36.09 minutes a game, and has made almost every minute count. The guard is averaging 12.8 points a game while hitting 2.00, three's a game to go along with 2.82 assists per game and 2.18 steals a game. Senior Brian Hutchinson only managed to play eight games in the beginning of the year, averaging 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds a game. However, Hutchinson has not seen action since December 18.

 

With the season series split at one game apiece, each team has taken the home-court advantage in each contest. The December 11 match up saw the Lions use a four point halftime advantage to finish out the game 76-72 over the Pioneers. Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) dropped in 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds despite the loss. Molloy had four players in double-figures, led by Nolan's 17. The Lions used 27 points off of Pioneer turnovers to help seal the victory.

 

C.W. Post really showed some strength in a 75-53 win over the Lions at the Pratt Center on January 22, one of the 10 victories the Pioneers had during the month of January. Bonneau's 22 points were the high mark for the game, while Montalvo dished out seven assists to go along with 13 points. The Pioneers used 24 points off of Lions turnovers during this contest to help push past, while also holding the rebounding edge, 34-28. Petrucelli tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals in the effort.

 

The doubleheader match-up will get underway a little bit later than normal for most ECC games, as the women will being at 6:00 pm, with the men to follow at 8 p.m.