Allen Leads Men's Basketball Past St. Thomas Aquinas, 81-60
Box Score
SPARKILL, N.Y. (Jan. 23, 2013) – Junior forward
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored a career-high 29 points as he led the LIU Post men's basketball team to an 81-60 victory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans on Wednesday evening in East Coast Conference action at Aquinas Hall.
The Pioneers improve to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in ECC action while the Spartans slip to 3-13 on the season and 3-5 in conference action.
It was a close game in the early minutes of the first half, as the Spartans led early, but the Pioneers tied the game at 12-12 with 12:39 on the clock. The Pioneers took a 16-14 lead with 10:35 remaining and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest, however, the hosts kept it close for most of the first half. The Pioneers lead was cut to one (25-24) with 5:13 left, but a dunk by Allen sparked a 17- 5 run to close out the half and give the Pioneers a double-digit lead, 41-30, at the half.
The Pioneers' lead remained in double digits for all of the second half, and the visitors slowly grew their lead to a 20-point bulge midway through the second, up 62-42 with 11:55 to play. They would keep their lead solidly in twenty-point range for the remainder of the contest, buoyed by yet another solid shooting effort from the field, posting a 51.6% total (33-64) while holding a +7 margin in the rebounding column (41-34). The hosts did struggle from long range, making only three shots from beyond the arc on 14 attempts.
Allen's career-high came on 14-19 shooting from the floor, along with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Senior guard
Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) scored 18 points, and senior guard
Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) chipped in with 13 points. Sophomore forward
Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Justin Brown scored 14 points to lead the Spartans, while Omar Kellman added 11 points.
The Pioneers remain on the road on Saturday, January 26, traveling to Bridgeport for a 3 p.m. contest against the Purple Knights.