Old Westbury, N.Y. - The No. 6 seeded Dowling College men's basketball team upset the No. 3 NYIT Bears 82-74 in tonight's East Coast Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinal matchup at Recreation Hall. The Golden Lions improve to 13-15 overall and the Bears finish at 14-15.
The Golden Lions advance to the Semifinals held at LIU Post and face the top seeded University of Bridgeport Saturday, March 7th. Tip off is set for 7:30 PM.
Junior Evan Maxwell led the Golden Lions with a double double of 19 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 14 rebounds. Senior Darien Davis matched the team high with 19 points and dished three assists. Senior Donte Adams came away with 12 points with sophomores Ryan Hickey and Michael Guzzardi pitched in with 10 points apiece.
After trailing through majority of the opening fame, the Bears went on a 13-4 tear to close out the half with a 38-34 lead. NYIT's Darian Hooker led all players on the court with 12 points through the first 20 minutes with teammate Jon Feller grabbing 14 boards.
The Bears opened the second half with a three from Khalf Chaplin to take their largest lead of the night, 41-34. The Golden Lions followed with an 8-0 run capped by a three from Adams to retake the lead, 42-41, at the 17:39 mark. Dowling remained in the lead, but not mare than four points, over the next seven minutes until five unanswered put the Golden Lions ahead 60-53 with just over 11 minutes to play. Dowling grabbed their largest lead of the night, 67-57, after a Davis three with 8:18 on the clock.
The Bears outscored the Golden Lions 14-2 over the next five minutes to take over the lead, 71-70, with just under three minutes left in the game. Maxwell knocked down a three 30 seconds later putting Dowling back on top and after Davis grabbed a defensive board found him in transition for a 74-71 DC advantage. NYIT's Hooker was sent to the free throw line on the following possession and hit both shots inching the Bears to within one, 74-73, but the Golden Lions went to claim eight of the final nine points down the stretch to come away with the 82-74 win.
As a team, the Golden Lions finished shooting 45.1 percent (32-of-71) from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. NYIT was held to just 32.5 percent shooting (25-of-77) from the floor.
NYIT's Hooker finished with a game high 28 points with Kachi Nzerem coming off the bench with 13 points. Jerrel Green rounded out the top scorers with a double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.
