The Pioneers opened the new year with a bang Wednesday night, taming the Lions of Molloy 71-65. The six-point Pioneer victory was fueled by 18 points off of turnovers and heavy contributions off the bench, as the reserves poured in 31 points on the evening. Five players scored in double figures as the green and gold improve to 5-9 overall and 3-1 in ECC play with their victory in Rockville Center.
 
Paced by an early 11 points by Kyle Doucette, LIU Post scrapped their way through the first ten minutes of play on the road with the score tied at 19. The Lions responded with an 11-2 run to push their lead to nine points. Sophomore guard Jared Rivers answered with back-to-back three-point field goals as the Pioneers were able to cut Molloy's lead to just three at the half.

The Pioneers were red hot from behind the arc during the first half shooting 7-of-15 as a team, in addition to a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
 
After halftime head coach Eric Smiles' squad ratcheted up their defense which lead to 10 second half turnovers. That stingy defense led to the Lions shooting 25.9% from the field and just 11.8% from behind the three-point line over the final 20 minutes. Rivers and freshman guard Darien Jenkins led the way offensively in the second half as each tallied eight points in the frame. The Pioneers took the lead for good with a dominant sequence from Aary Bibens that included five points and a steal from the senior on the opposite end of the floor.
 
LIU Post returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 6 as it plays host to the second half of an ECC double header against Queens College at 3:30 p.m. in the Pratt Recreation Center.