Box Score
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (Feb. 28, 2009) – In a tumultuous game that saw six lead changes and six tie scores, the second-ranked C.W. Post men's basketball team pulled ahead of Adelphi University, 54-53 on Kevin Spann's lay-in with 4:07 remaining, and never relinquished the lead as they completed the first undefeated regular season in school history, finishing 24-0 overall and 18-0 in the ECC. 

The game, played at Adelphi's Center for Recreation and Sport, featured a packed, standing room only crowd for a matchup that lived up to its billing. Until the Pioneers took a six point lead with 2:32 to play on a trey by Spann, the last seven minutes of play featured a six lead changes and with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two points. 

The game began as tightly contested as it finished, as neither team was able to push their lead to more then six points. The Pioneers held the early advantage, holding onto a lead through the first fifteen minutes of play, but watching the Panthers come back to tie the game up at 29-29 after a David Akinyooye jumper with 2:04 to play in the first. The Pioneers regained the lead with a Roberto Macklin (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) jumper, but the Panthers tied it up and then took the lead as Richard Byrd completed a three-point play to give Adelphi its first lead of the game. A jumper by Byrd with two second remaing on the clock gave the hosts a three-point lead heading into halftime.

The Pioneers came out of halftime with a vengeance, as Nick Carter (Huntington Station, N.Y.), who had struggled in the first half shooting only 1-of-7 from the field, hit a trey just 45 second into the second half to tie the score at 34 all. 

An Adelphi jumper by Sky Khaleel put the Panthers back up by Carter answered right back with a jumper of his own to knot the game at 36. The Panthers surged ahead again, and again the Pioneers answered, this time with a Macklin jumper. Adelphi took a four poiont lead with 12:07 to play, 44-40. The teams traded baskets, but the Panthers pushed the lead back to four at 8:22 after a jumper by Byrd, but once again the Pioneers quickly countered with a Carter jumper at 8:11. The teams played almost a scoreless minute and a half, until 6:49 when Carter's trey pushed the Pioneers ahead by one for their first lead since the two minute mark in the first half. 

Adelphi surged back as Byrd hit both shots on a one-and-one, but Spann's trey put the visitors on top by two points, 52-50, with 5:20 to play. The Panthers answered back with a long three from Casey Cosgrove, but Spann's layup at 4:07 put the Pioneers up for good, 54-53. A steal on the ensuing possession by Macklin, capped with a layup, gave the visitors a 56-53 lead, and another trey by Spann with 2:32 to play pushed the Pioneers out to a six point lead, 59-53, and they would hold on the rest of the way for the victory.

Kenny Burkes (Suitland, Md.) paced the Pioneers with 17 points and five boards. Carter added 15 and Spann scored 13, with eight of his points coming in the last five minutes and 20 seconds of play.

Byrd led the Panthers with 17 points, while Akinyooye added 14 to the losing effort.

The Pioneers, with the #1 seed in the upcoming East Coast Conference Championship Tournament, will host a quarter-final game at the Pratt Recreation Center on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m., taking on the #8 seed, Molloy College.