BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (February 8, 2011) ­– As the final stretch of the basketball season approaches, both the C.W. Post men's and women's basketball teams will be looking at every game as an important part of finalizing a playoff spot in the East Coast Conference. This will be no different with the two teams traveling to Dowling College for a doubleheader match up on Wednesday, February 9. 

 

After picking up a road victory this past Saturday at Mercy, the Pioneer women are now tied for fourth place in the ECC with Queens College. The Pioneers moved to 8-7 in the conference with the 84-76 win over Mercy, while improving to 10-10 overall.

 

Senior Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) once again was the leading-scorer for C.W. Post, as she poured in 26 points along with three steals on the defensive side. Nicole Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also had a strong game as she continues her solid sophomore year with 17 points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Fellow sophomore Ashley Caggiano (Holtsville, N.Y.) knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to help give a deep threat for the Pioneer offense, while senior Alyssa Lombardi (New Fairfield, Conn.) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds. 

 

Aiken pushed her average to 16.2 points per game, good enough for fourth in the conference. Aiken's backcourt mate, junior Felicia Joyner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), is the other lone Pioneer to average double-figures with 11.4 points a game. Marciniak continues to shoot with efficiency from the field, as she is third in the conference with a 46.5 percent shooting from the field. She also has picked up the aggressiveness on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 1.05 blocks per game. Lombardi continues to be among the top rebounders in the conference, pulling down a third best 8.4 rebounds per game. 

 

Despite being out rebounded 55-34 by Mercy this past Saturday, the Pioneers continue to hold a conference-best +2.8 rebounding margin over opponents. The defense is also holding opponents to 60.2 points a game, with that average only behind Dowling for the best in the conference.

 

The Dowling Lions are coming off a tough loss to Bridgeport this past Saturday, 49-42, pulling the teams into a second place tie in the ECC at a 9-6 conference mark. The Lions are 11-11 on the season overall.

 

Junior forward Sarah Schicher has been arguably one of the more consistent players for the Lions on the year, as she is averaging 10.3 points a game, 8.2 rebounds a game, shooting 48.5 percent from the field on the year, and denying opponent's shots with a 1.95 blocks per game average. The rebounding average is fourth in the conference, with the block average being third, and the shooting percentage being the best. 

 

Schicher has been joined in double-figure scoring, as sophomore guard Connie Simmons is averaging a team best 11.4 points a game, while also pulling down a sixth-best 7.2 rebounds per game. 

 

Six foot, one inch freshman forward Julia Koppl has led all ECC rookies with four ECC Rookie of the Week honors over the course of the season. Koppl is averaging 8.7 point per game to go along with 5.5 rebounds per game. 

 

These two teams have met twice already on the season, with Dowling taking both games. The first Schicher led the scoring with 19, while Simmons scored 17 to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists. Aiken scored a game-high 23 for the Pioneers. The senior guard also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. The Lions shot 47.7 percent from the field, compared to a 31.6 percent shot by the Pioneers. 

 

In the second meeting, Dowling came away with a 59-44 on January 15 at the Pratt Center. Koppl scored 15 with six rebounds for the Lions, while no Pioneer player reached double-figures. Caggiano led the way with eight points, with Lombardi pulling down eight rebounds. 

 

In the men's game, the Pioneers will enter play still in a three way tie for first place in the ECC with Queens and Bridgeport as all three teams are deadlock at 12-3 in conference. The Pioneers also push to 15-7 overall with a 95-89 victory at Mercy this past Saturday. 

 

Three players reached 20 points during the win over Mercy for the Pioneers, with Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) leading the way with 24. The junior guard also tallied five rebounds and assists each. Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) contributed 21 points and five rebounds, with Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) putting forth an effort of 20 points and seven rebounds. The Pioneers shot 54.4 percent from the field, while converting 27 points from the charity stripe. 

 

Bonneau continues to lead the ECC in scoring with 19.0 points a game. He also leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage with 45.4 percent from beyond the arc and three point field goals made per game with 2.81. Bonneau also leads the conference and is seventh in the nation with a 92 percent shooting from the free throw line. 

 

Hall is also having a strong season during his senior year, ranking fourth in the league in scoring at 14.5 points a game. He also is eighth in field goal shooting percentage at 48.6 percent and tenth in rebounding at 5.6 boards a game. Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) is also making strong contributions, with 12.6 points a game and 6.3 rebounds a game, ranking 11^th and fourth in the conference respectively. 

 

Senior point guard Gilbert Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) continues to lead the attack, with 5.82 assists per game, which leads the team and is the best average in the conference. Montalvo is also shooting the ball well from beyond the arc at a 37.8 percent, while also playing the passing lanes well on defense with a conference second best 2.23 steals a game.

 

The Pioneer team has also been for the majority of the year the number one scoring in the ECC at 80.8 points per game average. C.W. Post also leads the conference in free throw percentage (74.3 percent), field goal percentage (46.2 percent), and three point field goal percentage (38.9 percent).

 

Despite beating the Pioneers early on in the season, the Dowling Lions have struggled to this point. The Lions are coming off a 102-72 loss to Bridgeport this past Saturday, dropping to 5-15 overall, 5-10 in the ECC. 

 

Senior Michael Hill leads the team in scoring with 12.2 points a game and is averaging 1.11 blocks a game, best in the conference. Josh Malone and Algirdas Macevicious lead the team in rebounding, ranking seventh and eighth with 6.1 and 6.0 rebounds per game respectively. Junior guard Jake Stevens ranks fourth in two categories in the ECC, with 3.95 assists per game and an 83.0 percent from the free throw line. He also is third in steals per game with 2.21 per game. 

 

As mentioned before, Dowling has already defeated the Pioneers once this season, the first of the three meeting on the year for the teams. On December 4, Dowling protected home court with an 86-73 victory. Hill put together a game of 17 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. John Merchant led the way with 19 points as the Lions converted 27 points off of 19 Pioneers turnovers. Bonneau scored a game-high 23 points, with Hall scoring 18 and pulling down nine rebounds.

 

In the second meeting, C.W. Post avenged the earlier season loss with an 80-70 victory. Bonneau once again led the way with 30 points and eight rebounds, and Kohler achieving a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Merchant scored 15 for the Lions who were only able to shoot 40.3 percent, compared to 51.9 percent shooting on the side of the Pioneers.

 

The doubleheader is set to get underway at Dowling with the women's game beginning at 5 p.m. and the men to follow at 7 p.m. Be sure to check out the website for all game information if you are not able to make it out to the game.