Photo by LIU ATHLETICS
Christian Arnold
Assistant Sports Editor
The LIU Post Pioneers men’s basketball team bounced back after a tough loss to Molloy College on Saturday, February 2 with two consecutive victories against Queens College on Wednesday, February 6, and Roberts Wesleyan College on Sunday, February 11.
The two wins help move the Pioneers to 15-6 on the season and 10-3 in East Coast Conference play.
Wednesday’s 78-60 win over Queens College was led by senior guard Tobin Carberry, who dropped 22 points. Junior forward Vaughn Allen scored 16 points of his own and senior guard Jonathan Kohler finished the game with 10 points.
Queens quickly jumped out to an early lead to start the game and with just under 16 minutes left in the half they had a 7-4 lead after sophomore forward Patrick Modzelewski hit a three pointer. But the Pioneers quickly tied it up after Allen completed a three-point play to tie the game.
A little over a minute later, two made free throws by Carberry gave LIU Post their first lead of the game, and by the 9:48 mark they had extended it to a double digit lead.
By the 4:57 mark the Pioneers had acquired their largest lead of the night, beating Queens 30-11, a 19-point lead. LIU Post would end the first half with a 40-25 cushion.
Queens slowly chipped away at the Pioneers lead in the second half, cutting it to 10 points at the 15:53 mark. Junior guard George Holmes cut the lead to eight after making two free throw shots, but the Pioneers would put their foot back on the pedal and get the lead back into double digits.
Holmes would again knock the Pioneers lead back down to eight at the 6:06 mark and would cut it to just six a minute later. But Carberry would score 14 points in the final five minutes to help secure the Pioneers 78-60 win.
LIU Post followed up the win over Queens with a dominating performance over Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday.
The Pioneers shot 47 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range. Kohler led the team with 18 points, while Allen had 12 and Carberry contributed 11.
Like the previous game, it started out with the opponent jumping to an early lead. But as quickly as Roberts Wesleyan got the lead, they relinquished it just as fast. Kohler hit a three-pointer with about 14 minutes in the half to give the Pioneers a 12-11 advantage and they would never look back.
The Pioneers’ lead hit double digits at 7:32 after freshman guard Dillon Burns hit a shot from behind the arc to make it a 12-point game. Carberry hit a three with 1:10 left in the first to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the half, 19, and ended the first half with a 46-28 lead.
The second half produced much of the same results as the Pioneers continued to outplay Roberts Wesleyan.
With nearly 13 minutes left in the game, the Pioneers accumulated a 20-point lead after sophomore forward Charles McCann converted on a jump shot. Freshman guard Emile Blackman gave LIU Post a 68-41 lead after finishing a fast break with a slam-dunk. And junior forward Amir Tarif made it a 29-point game with 1:12 left in the game. The Pioneers would end the game with a 28-point victory over Roberts Wesleyan.
LIU Post’s next game is on Wednesday, February 13 in the nation’s capital when they take on the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds (3-18) at 7:30 p.m. The men follow the women’s game, and pregame is slated for 7:00 p.m. All of your Pioneers basketball coverage can be found on 88.1 FM and WCWP.org.
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