Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight; Defeats Saint Michael's 81-68
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (January 2, 2013) – It was a balanced scoring effort on Tuesday afternoon at the Pratt Recreation Center as five players in double figures led the LIU Post men's basketball team to its seventh straight win, a 81-68 defeat of Saint Michael's College in non-conference action.
The Pioneers improve to 7-3 overall, while Saint Michael's goes to 4-6.
It was a close game early as the Pioneers managed to pull out to a 12-7 lead only to watch the Purple Knights generate a 10-0 run and take a 17-12 lead of their own. The Pioneers battled back to tie it at 17 after a three-pointer by
Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.) at 11:33.
The teams would trade baskets over the next five minutes, tying at 20, 23, and 26 apiece before the Pioneers scored four straight to break the tie and take a 30-26 lead with 5:45 to play. The Pioneers outscored the Purple Knights 11-6 to close out the half with a 41-32 lead heading into the break.
The visitors cut the lead to seven coming out of halftime, but the Pioneers answered with back-to-back three pointers by Butler and
Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) and pushed out to a 13 point lead.
Several minutes later, leading 49-40, the Pioneers engineered a 14-2 run that saw them take a 63-42 lead with 11:40 to play. With the game firmly in the hosts' control, the Purple Knights managed to get no closer than cutting the lead to 13 in the closing minutes.
Junior forward
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with 16 points, while senior
Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.Y.) added 15 points off the bench. Carberry and Butler added 11 points apiece, with Butler dishing six assists. Sophomore
Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) also had a strong game with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pioneers had a +10 margin in the rebounding column (38-28) as they shot 48% from the floor (32-66) and 46% from downtown (7-15), as well as 10-12 from the charity stripe. The hosts had a 15-10 assist to turnover ratio.
Next on the slate is a home game on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 3:30 p.m. against Queens.