BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (February 18, 2011) – With only three games remaining in the regular season for both men's and women's basketball, a match-up doubleheader at St. Thomas Aquinas will prove to be crucial for seeding in the East Coast Conference.

 

The C.W. Post women enter play after taking control of fourth place in the ECC with a victory at Molloy this past Wednesday, 63-41. With the victory, the Pioneers moved to 10-8 in the conference, 12-11 overall. Senior Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) took the lead in scoring once again, pouring in 21 points to go along with four assists during the victory. Alyssa Lombardi (New Fairfield, Conn.) controlled the glass with 11 rebounds while Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) created seven steals, a team-high as the Pioneers had 13 steals as a team. The squad used a 33-13 first half to keep a distance during the second half for a victory.

 

Aiken continues to stay at top of the scoring leaders in the conference, pacing herself in fourth place with a team-high 16.6 points per game on the season. Lombardi also finds herself once again staying close in the rebounding category; placing third with her 8.7 boards a game average. 

 

The Pioneers as a team are controlling the scoring of opponents, holding teams to 59.8 points a game, second in the conference. Teams are managing to shoot only 36.2 percent from the field against the Pioneers, including 28.8 percent from beyond the arc. Creating a +3.0 rebounding margin against teams also gives the Pioneers the ability to reduce second point chances.

 

The Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas currently are in control of first place in the ECC, with only a win away from clinching the regular season title. The Spartans stand at 14-4 in the conference, 18-7 overall after earning a convincing victory against Mercy this past Wednesday, 84-66. The Spartans also entered the beginning of the week number nine in the most recent NCAA East Regional Poll. 

 

Junior forward Brianna Sloper has become one of the standout women players in the conference, earning four Player of the Week Awards over the course of the season. The junior from Williston Park is second in points in the conference with a 18.2 average and a sixth best 7.4 rebounding average. She also ranks third in field goal percentage, shooting 45.6 percent from the field.

 

Sophomore Bianca Kowigos is helping to move the offense for the Spartans, averaging 5.2 assists per game for the best average in the conference. She also is converting on her trips to the free throw line, making a second best 82.4 percent of her attempts. The guard also is making strides on the defensive side of the ball, averaging a fourth best 2.40 steals per game.

 

As a team, the Spartans are second in scoring offense in the conference with 64.8 points per game. Led by Kowigos, the squad has the best free throw shooting percentage in the conference with a 74.0 percent from the line. C.W. Post is also the only team who holds a better rebounding margin over the Spartans, who are controlling a +1.8 rebounding margin over opponents.

 

Thus far on the season, the Spartans have taken both match-ups previous to this game against the Pioneers. The first victory came back on January 5, as Sloper's 16 points led the Spartans to a 49-57 victory on the St. Thomas Aquinas home floor. The team benefited from a 41.7 shooting percentage to obtain the victory. Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) put forth 13 points and seven rebounds in the effort. A 17-12 turnover difference helped to favor the Spartans.

 

The second game in the Pratt Recreation Center back on January 27 came down to the wire, as the Spartans took a 51-52 victory. Sloper once again led the way for the Spartans with 17 points and five rebounds. Aiken scored 17 for the Pioneers while dishing out four assists. However, the Pioneers could have used 19 from Aiken on the day as she just missed on a running jumper with time expiring that could have gave the Pioneers a one-point victory.  Aiken was given the opportunity to win the game after Marciniak created a turnover and steal off of Sloper.

 

The tied for first place leading Pioneer men will look to avoid an upset loss to the Spartan men in the second game and try and sweep the series from St. Thomas Aquinas. C.W. Post continues to stay in first place with Bridgeport as the teams go stride for stride in victories leading up to next Saturday's matchup, as each team is 15-3 in the ECC. The Pioneers also re-entered the NCAA East Region Poll this past week, claiming the seventh spot.

 

The latest victory for the Pioneers came this past Wednesday at Molloy, 77-65. Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) led the way with 22 points, while Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) had a well-balanced game with 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals. The Pioneers held a 38-22 points in the paint advantage and a 21-2 fast break points advantage. 

 

Hall and Kohler have combined with Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) to represent the Pioneers in three spots of the top ten of scoring in the league. With Bonneau's 18.6, Hall's 14.6, and Kohler's 13.0 point per game average, the team has built a 80.4 points per game average on the season. Also, Gilbert Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) has helped the team average 16.96 assists per game as a team with his conference leading 6.00 assist per game.

 

As a team, the Pioneers lead the conference in free throw shooting (74.7 percent), field goal percentage (46.5 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (38.6 percent). The squad has also pulled above the positive line for average rebounding margin on the year with a +0.2 margin on the year as the rebounding as continued to improve as a team.

 

With a 5-18 overall record and 5-13 ECC mark, the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans will be looking to play spoiler for the remainder of the year with match-ups against the top three teams in the conference, starting with C.W. Post on Saturday. The Spartans are coming off a win themselves, with a 83-76 victory at Mercy this past Wednesday.

 

Despite the record, the Spartans have posted one of the better defenses in the conference. The Spartans are holding opponents to 64.9 points per game, second scoring defense in the conference, while rejecting a conference best 4.00 shots per game, led by Jamie Blanchard's 1.13 blocks per game, putting in a tie for first for the lead in that category in the conference.

 

Sophomore Justin Brown is the main threat on the offensive side of the ball for the Spartans, ranking third with a 15.3 points per game average. The sophomore from Uniondale is also averaging a ninth best 5.5 boards a game. Fellow sophomore Daniel Skinner also ranks among the statistical leaders with a third best 4.05 assist per game average. 

 

The Pioneers took the first match-up against the Spartans back on January 5 on the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas, 71-49. Bonneau led the way for the Pioneers with 17 points and eight rebounds. No Spartan players tallied double-figure scoring totals with the team only able to shoot 35.8 percent, compared to the 45.6 percent shot by the Pioneers. C.W. Post also held a 28-18 points in the paint advantage.

 

Last time out was a 79-65 victory for the Pioneers in the Pratt Recreation Center, with four Pioneers reaching double-figures. Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) led the way with 18 points while Kohler contributed 16 points and nine rebounds. The Pioneers shot 53.4 percent from the field and held a 34-29 rebounding advantage. Blanchard chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds for the Spartans.

 

The double-header is set to begin at 1 p.m. with the women's game, and the men to follow at approximately 3 p.m.