District of Columbia Seeks Second Straight Win at LIU Post Saturday

2012-13 University of the District of Columbia Men's Basketball Game Notes

District of Columbia (2-10, 1-3 ECC) at LIU Post (9-3, 4-0 ECC)

Saturday, January 12^th – Pratt Recreation Center (Brookville, NY)

Opening Tip-Off

The Firebirds visit the reigning East Coast Conference champion LIU Post Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at the Pratt Center. Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m. Follow Live Video and Live Stats, courtesy of LIU Post.

Updating the Firebirds

District of Columbia hopes it turned a corner at home on Wednesday night as it snapped a nine-game losing streak and picked up its second win of the season, 75-72 over St. Thomas Aquinas. Senior transfer forward D'Angelo Johnson (Mass Media – Washington, DC/Virginia St.) led three Firebirds in double-figures with a game-high 22 points while junior transfer guard Ralph Watts (Sociology – Peekskill, NY/UAlbany) registered 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Junior transfer point guard Quasim Jones also turned in 19 points, a game-high seven assists and four rebounds.

Scouting the Pioneers

LIU Post is riding a nine-game win streak after starting the season 0-3. The pre-season favorite Pioneers are a perfect 4-0 in league play and have beaten league opponents by an average of 22 points per-game. They most recently walloped ECC newcomer Roberts Wesleyan, 100-58 on the road Wednesday night. LIU Post had six players score in double-figures in that game, including Tobin Carberry's game-high 21 points. The Pioneers lost their season home opener to non-conference foe Post University on November 17^th, but have since won five straight games at home.

The Matchup

At season's start, this game figured to be a battle of two of the league's top teams, but the Firebirds have not had the type of season many were expecting them to. Therefore, Saturday's matchup at the Pratt Center features the league's top offense (LIU Post, 79.2 ppg) against the worst defense (District of Columbia, 79.7 ppg). Also very troubling for head coach Jeff Ruland's Firebirds is that the Pioneers are the best rebounding team in the league  (42.4 rpg) and his team is dead last in that category with 31.3 rpg. Still, District of Columbia ranks right behind LIU Post (No. 1 and 2, respectively) in three-point shooting percentage, led by senior guard Keith Brooks' ECC 5^th-best 35.7-percent shooting from behind-the-arc. Also, the Firebirds are the least turnover-prone team in the league with just 12.2 turnovers per-game. LIU Post averages close to 16 turnovers per-game, and actually turned it over 19 times on Wednesday night in its lopsided win over the Redhawks.

The Pioneers swept the season series last year. They defeated District of Columbia, 85-75 when the two teams met at the Pratt Center in the season finale to determine the regular season ECC champion.