Brookville, N.Y. - The No. 6 Dowling College
men's basketball team upset No. 3 LIU Post in the quarterfinal
round of the ECC Tournament Tuesday evening in 70-64. The win
advances them to the semifinals, where they face No. 2 NYIT at 7
p.m. Thursday evening.
After six tied scores and ten lead changes, the Golden Lions broke
a 63-63 tie with less than a minute to defeat the two-time
defending ECC Champion Pioneers.
The first half saw the Golden Lions lead by as many as five, 9-4,
however, seven unanswered points gave the Pioneers their first lead
of the night, 11-9 at the 13:32 mark. Over the next six and a half
minutes the lead exchanged hands five times. Davis hit a three with
6:55 left in the half putting the Golden Lions ahead 20-19.
Dowling grabbed their second five point advantage following a
jumper from Corwin Austin, but after LIU's Williams made a free
throw, back to back buckets by Charles McCann and Carberry sent the
teams into the break all tied up at 25.
In the second half, the Golden Lions went on a quick 7-0 run right
out of the gate, giving them their largest lead of the game to that
point, 32-25, with 18:31 left. Three minutes later, Dowling took
their largest lead of the night after a jumper from Josh Malone,
39-31, but a 12-2 Pioneer run put the home team on top (43-41) for
the first time in the half with just under 11 minutes
remaining.
After three lead changes and the game knotted at 47, the Golden
Lions grabbed the lead back and they would not relinquish it again.
Following LIU's Billy Butler jumper to tie the game at 63 with :49
on the clock, an offensive rebound by Davis set up Taylor for his
5th three pointer of the game putting Dowling ahead for the
final time. Free throws by Taylor and Davis in the closing
seconds sealed the 70-64 win.
Junior guard Leon Taylor finished with a season high 21 points
going 5 for 7 from beyond the arc and 6-7 at the free throw
line. Senior Josh Malone had 17 points with Ronald Baker and
Darien Davis adding 15 and 11 points respectively.
LIU Post's Billy Butler led with 14 points with Tobin Carberry and
Tyuan Williams both finished with 13.
The Golden Lions shot 48.9% from the field, 48% from long range and
went 12 for 13 from the free throw line.
The Pioneers were held to just 41.5% from the field, 28.6% from
three point range, and 16 for 26 at the line.
Dowllng became the first No. 6 seed to reach the conference semifinals in the current tournament format. The Golden Lions victory also ends a run of six straight appearances in the title game of the ECC Men's Basketball Championship by the Pioneers.
Provided by the Dowling Sports Information Department.
