C.W. Post held off a late surge by the University of Bridgeport to claim its
second straight East Coast Conference Championship title with a 62-56 win at the
Center for Recreation and Sports at Adelphi University. The Pioneers stay
undefeated at 27-0 and will advance to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
The tournament brackets will be announced Sunday evening at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Senior guard
Nick
Carter (6'2''-G) led all scorers with 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting from the
floor, including three-point field goals.
C.W. Post shot .362 (20 of 47) from field goal range and went 15-for-24 from the
charity stripe. Bridgeport closed out the game shooting .426 (20 of 47) and
outrebounded C.W. Post, 44-31.
Good defense was the key as the Pioneers scored 29 points off 25 Bridgeport
miscues in the game.
A close score through much of the game, Bridgeport made things interesting down
the stretch and never let C.W. Post pull too far away.
To start the game, Bridgeport took control and built a sizeable 11-5 lead
through the first seven and a half minutes of play as C.W. Post's offense
struggled, shooting 2-for-14 from the floor.
Junior forward James Tchana scored a layup from the right post followed by a
three-pointer from Carter from the top of the key that cut the lead to 11-10 in
favor of Bridgeport. Senior guard
Kenny
Burkes (5'11''-G) converted two free throws at 9:12 to give C.W. Post its
first lead in the game.
The teams exchanged the lead over the next few minutes of play. Sophomore guard
Dave
Boykin (6'3''-G) swished a trey from out front at 8:54 before Burkes made
two free throws at 7:59. Senior forward Tairez Stennis landed a three-pointer
from the right wing at 7:44 before Burkes hit two more clutch free throws to
keep the lead within one (17-16) in favor of the Purple Knights.
Sophomore guard
Jermaine Washington (6'1''-G) scored on a reverse layup at 6:44 to lead
19-16. But the lead did not stick as C.W. Post went on a 12-2 run that began
with a jumper from Schmidt near the right baseline at 6:09 and ended with a pair
of free throws from Burkes at 2:01.
Burkes scored the final basket of the half with a layup from Schmidt as time
expired.
The Pioneers twice led by as many as 14 points (42-28) at the beginning of the
second half before a 16-3 burst by the Purple Knights that began with a layup
from junior forward
Demetrious Phillips (6'8''-F) at 14:02 culminated with a trifecta from
junior guard
Steve
Martin (5'10''-G-86) from the top of the key cut the lead to one (45-44)
with 7:35 left to play. C.W. Post answered eight seconds later with a
three-point field goal Carter from the top of the key.
With 16 seconds left in regulation, Boykin nailed a three-pointer that shrunk
the Pioneers' lead down to three (59-56).
C.W. Post kept the Purple Knights at a distance as senior guard
Kenny
Burkes converted a pair of free throws that helped secure the lead with 13
seconds remaining. Senior guard
Jonathan Schmidt (6'0''-G) contributed with one free throw at the
four-second mark to close out the game.
Burkes was 9-for-10 at the line and finished with 15 pionts while Schmidt
chipped in 13 for the Pioneers.
For Bridgeport, Stennis was the high scorer with 13 points. Phillips scored
eight points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Courtesy of ECC Sports
Tournament Final: Bridgeport - C.W. Post 56-62 Tournament Semifinals:
Dowling - C.W. Post 62-84
Adelphi - Bridgeport 44-62
Cluess
C.W. Post held off a late surge by the University of Bridgeport to claim its
second straight East Coast Conference Championship title with a 62-56 win at the
Center for Recreation and Sports at Adelphi University. The Pioneers stay
undefeated at 27-0 and will advance to play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. 
