No. 6 Men's Basketball Rolls Past St. Rose, 74-61
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Dec. 29, 2008)- All five starters scored in double figures for C.W. Post, leading the Pioneers past the College of St. Rose, 74-61, on Monday night at the at Pratt Recreation Center in the opening round of the C.W. Post Holiday Invitational.
With the victory, C.W. Post improves to 7-0 overall, matching their best start since the 1985-86 season, when they opened the season with a 7-0 record. The Golden Knights slip to 3-7 overall.
The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead off Kevin Spann's (West Babylon, N.Y.)trey just five seconds into the half.
The Pioneers pushed their lead to a 9-3 advantage following two free throws by Kenny Burkes (Suitland, Md.), but St. Rose answered back with consecutive buckets to cut the lead to 9-7. From that point, the Pioneers went on a 17-2 run, leading by 17 points (26-9) at the 9:27 mark.
The Golden Knights clawed back and ended the half outscoring the Pioneers 7-1 in the last two minutes of play to pull to within 35-28 heading into halftime.
St. Rose came out of the halftime break with back-to-back layups to pull within three, 35-32, but pressure defense by the Pioneers caused four Golden Knight turnovers in a two-minute span, and the Pioneers quickly pushed their lead back to double-digits, leading by 18 points (50-32) following a lay-in from Spann at the 15:37 mark.
From there, the game belonged to the Pioneers as their lead remained double digits the rest of the game. Spann and Nick Carter (Huntington Station, N.Y.) each scored a game-high 17 points, and Carter also led the Pioneers with five assists and five steals. Jonathan Schmidt (Centereach, N.Y.) added 13 points and three assists, Burkes scored 11, and Lyndon Daniel (St. George's, Grenada) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, also adding two blocks.
The Pioneers shot 22-for-58 on the night (37.9%). They outscored the Golden Knights in the pain, 30-26, and scored 23 points off turnovers and 16 fast break points. St. Rose held a 42-33 advantage on the glass, but was not helped by 25 turnovers, compared to the Pioneers' 11.
Josh Pelletier scored a career-high 14 points for St. Rose, while Shea Bromirski chipped in with 12, respectively.
Head coach Tim Cluess and the Pioneers are back in action on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., when they take on the Assumption Greyhounds in the final game of the C.W. Post Holiday Invitational at the Pratt Recreation Center.