BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (January 14, 2011) – Saturday will mark the last game of the current four-game home stand the basketball teams are on. Both teams are coming off wins against Mercy this past Thursday night, as the women move into a tie for second in the conference standings. The men, with a convincing win, continued to hold the top spot in the standings with Bridgeport. 

The women came away with a 72-63 victory over Mercy Thursday night, led by senior guard Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.). Aiken continues to be the leading scorer for the Pioneers, as she poured in 19 points on the night, including going perfect from the charity stripe with 13 free throws. She also filled up other areas of the stat sheet, contributing seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals. 

Aiken now pushes her team leading points per game average to 17.5 a game. The senior also leads the team in assists with 3.5 a game, as well as steals, with 1.77 per game. Aiken is the reigning ECC Player of the Year, and is making a push to win that award once again. 

Aiken's backcourt mate, junior Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), joins her as the only other Pioneer to average double-figure points on the season. After tossing in 18 on Thursday night, Joyner pumped her average up to 10.7 points a game. 

C.W. Post has enjoyed success on the glass this season as well, led my senior Alyssa Lombardi (New Fairfield, Conn.). After Thursday's game, Lombardi is now over 100 rebounds for the year and is averaging 8.2 boards a game. She has helped increase the Pioneer rebounding margin per game over opponents to +3.2 a game.

The Pioneers will be looking to improve to 3-1 on this four-game home stretch, while also trying to avenge an early season loss to Dowling. The Golden Lions used a 25-4 run during the second half of that game to pull out a 65-57 victory over the Pioneers. Dowling was led by Connie Simmons, who put together a double-double effort with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Sarah Schicher was the high scorer for the Golden Lions with 19. Aiken enjoyed one of her better games of the year during the effort, scoring 23 points and contributing six rebounds and four assists. 

The Golden Lions are currently riding a three game win streak, led by Simmons. Simmons is averaging a team leading 11.2 points a game. Schicher is also having a sold season, averaging 9.2 points a game along with 8.3 rebounds a game and 2.0 blocks per game. The ECC has also honored two Dowling freshmen during the season with Rookie of the Week Honors. Julia Koppl has earned the award twice during the season, with teammate Shayla Felder being named once. 

The two teams sit tied for second place in the ECC standings, with St. Thomas Aquinas leading the conference. Both will look to come out with a purpose as the winner will control sole possession of second place. 

The second game of the doubleheader will feature the Pioneer men's team that is currently riding a five-game winning streak and is sitting tied for first place in the ECC standings after defeating Bridgeport this past Monday. Both teams sit at 6-2 in conference play. The Pioneers have also not lost at home thus far in the season, going a perfect 6-0. 

The most recent home victory came this past Thursday night, as C.W. Post easily defeated Mercy, 98-64. Five players reached double-figure scoring outputs in the game, with freshman Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) leading the way with 22. Senior Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) continued to mix both inside and outside play, as he ended the game with a double-double on 19 points and 10 boards. Junior guard Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.) controlled the ball on offense, coming up with a double-double himself behind 13 points and dishing out 11 assists. As a team, the Pioneers shot 52.9 percent from the field and forced 20 Mercy turnovers.

Leading scorer Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) was sidelined for the game due to a sprained ankle, but is expected to play Saturday afternoon. Bonneau is leading not only the team, but the league in scoring at 17.1 points per game average. The junior guard poured down a career-high 39 points just last Saturday against Queens. 

The Pioneers have also been the leading scoring offense in the league, averaging 80.5 points per game while holding opponents to 75.5 points a game. C.W. Post also holds a +1.5 turnover margin against opponents, led by senior guard Gilbert Montalvo's 2.47 steals per game. 

Since the last meeting, both teams have been going in opposite directions. However, the Golden Lions of Dowling managed to defeat the Pioneers 86-73. The victory came behind 27 Golden Lion points off of 19 Pioneer turnovers. Dowling also sent back eight Pioneer shots. Bonneau led the Pioneers with 23, including 15 from downtown. John Merchant led Dowling in the win with 19. 

Merchant earned ECC Player of the Week prior to that match-up with C.W. Post, and has averaged 10.2 points per game over the season. Dowling has been led for a majority of the year by the combination of 6-5, senior forward Michael Hill and 6-4, sophomore guard Josh Malone. Hill is the leading scorer for the team with 12.6 points a game while also contributing 5.9 rebounds a game and a little over one block per game. Malone is the leading rebounder for the team at 7.2 rebounds per game and putting forth 11.0 points a game. 

C.W. Post will look to extend both its current winning streak and home winning streak while keeping a lock on first place with Bridgeport. Dowling is looking to go a surprising 2-0 against the Pioneers on the season. 

The women's game is set to tip off at 1:30, with the men to follow at 3:30 in the Pratt Recreation Center on the Campus of C.W. Post. If you can't make it out to the Pratt Center, be sure to follow the game on the C.W. Post Athletic Website with live stats, live video, and live radio.