Box Score

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Feb. 24, 2015) - Senior guard P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored a season-high 30 points Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough, as the LIU Post men's basketball team dropped a 90-80 decision to NYIT in an East Coast Conference showdown at Recreation Hall.

Torres entered the contest averaging 18.0 points per game versus the Bears (12-14, 9-9 ECC) in three career starts. He also pulled down 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Senior forward Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) poured in 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight boards. Fellow senior forward Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) added eight points and six rebounds, while sophomore forward Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) had eight points and four boards.

In a game that featured nine tied scores and an overwhelming 17 lead changes, neither squad held an advantage as large as five points over the first 30 minutes of the game. Down 59-58 just past the midway point of the second half, NYIT went on a 17-4 run in a span of 4:01 to put the decision out of reach. Senior guard Darian Hooker (Washington, D.C.) accounted for 10 of the points in the stretch. He finished with a game-high 41 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor and 18-of-21 shooting from the line.

LIU Post (14-12, 9-9 ECC), which dominated the paint numbers by a 50-20 count, managed to close the gap to two possessions (86-80) in the final minute of regulation, via a Torres jumper. However, Hooker and junior guard Khalif Chaplin (Hempstead, N.Y.) each went 2-for-2 at the stripe down the stretch to the seal the win for the hosts.

Head Coach Erik Smiles and the Pioneers return to action Friday (Feb. 27), when they host Daemen in ECC action at 7:30 p.m. at the Pratt Recreation Center. Prior to the start of the game, LIU Post will recognize its four graduating seniors; Torres, Williams, McCann and Isiah Stokley (Queens, N.Y.).