BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Senior Isiah Stokley (Queens, N.Y.) scored a season-high 19 points and classmate P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) added 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead LIU Post to a 79-56 victory over Daemen College here tonight in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
Daemen saw its two-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 18-9 overall and 13-6 in the ECC. LIU Post won for the third time in four games and improved to 15-12 overall and 10-9 in the league.
Senior Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) paced the Wildcats with 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. The four rejections gives him 100 for the season. Beverly, who totaled 111 blocks last year, joins 2006 graduate Ron Wright as the only two players in program history to record 100 or more blocks in back-to-back seasons. Beverly has now scored in double figures in 57-straight games. Seniors Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) and Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y./South Glens Falls) and junior Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) all chipped in nine points for the Wildcats. Greene made two three-pointers and extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 38.
Senior Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) helped the LIU Post cause with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Daemen was off the mark on its first seven shots and did not score for the first 4:34 of the game. LIU Post took advantage of Daemen's slow start and held an 18-7 lead midway through the first half. Daemen responded with seven unanswered points and cut the lead to four points, 18-14, following a three-pointer by sophomore Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y./Tonawanda) with 7:48 left before intermission. LIU Post countered with an 8-0 run and later took a 17-point lead, 34-17, following a three-point play by Stokley with 3:13 left before intermission. Daemen stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer by Greene, but LIU Post closed the half with nine-straight points and the hosts took a 43-20 lead into the break.
LIU Post increased the lead to 29 points, 56-27, following a 13-7 run at the start of the second half. Daemen answered with a 17-5 run that cut the lead to 17 points, 61-44, with just over eight minutes left, but the visitors would come no closer as LIU Post outscored the Wildcats 11-4 over the next three minutes to regain a 24-point lead.
Daemen connected on just 7-of-28 shots (28%) in the first half and finished 19-for-57 (33%) for the game. LIU Post shot 53-percent (18-for-34) from the field over the first 20 minutes and went 32-for-63 (5%1) from the field overall. The Pioneers posted a 43-30 advantage in total rebounds and posted a 46-18 edge in points in the paint. The hosts collected 17 offensive rebounds which they converted into 23 second-chance points. Daemen equaled its season-high for turnovers (19) and the Pioneers took advantage with 23 points off turnovers.
Daemen closes out the regular-season tomorrow with an ECC game at New York Tech at 3 p.m.
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