Old Westbury, N.Y. - The No. 6 Golden Lions
upset the No. 2 Bears of the New York Institute of Technology 86-67
in the Semifinal Round of the ECC Championship Tournament.
Dowling advances to the Final Round for the first time since 1991
and will travel to Bridgeport, Conn. and face the University of
Bridgeport Saturday, March 9th at 1:00 PM.
All five Golden Lions starters finished in double digits with
freshman center Evan Maxwell leading the way with a game high 18
points and seven rebounds. Juniors Leon Taylor and Corwin
Austin added 17 and 13 points respectively with junior Justin
Alexander rounding out the top scorers with 11 points.
NYIT’s Kayvon Roberts led with 17 points and Azel Prather
finished with a double double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Golden Lions came out hot right from the start grabbing a 15-6
lead through the first six minutes of the game. Maxwell put
Dowling back up by 11, but the Bears put in back to back layups
cutting the lead to 17-10 with 12:51 on the clock. Just over
five minutes later a free throw from Malone put the Golden
Lions’ lead back into double digits where it would stay for
the remainder of the half as they led 44-25 heading into the
break.
The Dowling lead reached it’s peak at the 15:22 mark
following two free throws from Austin. An 11-2 run by the
Bears over the next 4:16 closed the gap to 61-46. NYIT
continued to fight and with 7:53 left in the game, found themselves
back within single digits for the first time since the first half
64-55. Dowling roared back with10 unanswered points and held
off the Bears for the 85-67 win.
As a team, DC shot 52.5% from the field while holding the Bears to
40%. Despite being out rebounded 41-36, the Golden Lions took
advantage on NYIT turnovers that turned into 27 points.
Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.
