Brookville, NY| Behind strong performances from sophomore Jared Rivers and freshman Austin Kennedy the LIU Post men's basketball team fended off East Coast Conference rival NYIT for a 73-63 victory inside the Pratt Center on Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Pioneers improve to 4-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play as the Bears slip to 2-10 (0-3 ECC)
Rivers led all players with a game-high 22 points (10-17 FG) in addition to grabbing six rebounds. Kennedy tallied season-high 16 points, was credited with six assists and a steal.
Senior Aary Bibens tallied 11 points and contributed with a team-high 12 rebounds and dished out three assists.
LIU Post exploded to an 8-0 run in the first 2:22 minutes of action, however, the Bears answered back with eight of the game's next 10 points to cut their deficit to two (10-8). NYIT would come within one of the Pioneers at 13:34 of the first half courtesy of a Kieran Hamilton three-pointer, but LIU Post responded with a 11-2 run to take a stranglehold of the game by going up 26-16 at 7:59.
The Bears came back to within one point (31-30) with 2:43 remaining in the half but a 7-2 run by the Pioneers ensured they would take a six-point lead (38-32) into the break.
Persistent in the second half the guests cut their deficit to four points (47-43) but it would be the closest they would come to tying the game as Kyle Doucette powered a dunk to re-establish LIU Post's eight-point (53-45) and springboard the Pioneers to a 73-63 victory.
LIU Post was the better shooting team from the field (44.6%-34.2%) and outscored the Bears in the paint (34-32) despite being outscored in points off turnovers (11-8).
The Pioneers will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 when they welcome Concorida College at 1:30 p.m. Live video and stats will be available here.