Sports
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The Great Neck News, Friday, December 11, 2015
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Post Soccer gives homeless a warmer winter By K r i st e n L i nsala t a On Saturday, Nov. 20, members of the LIU Post men’s soccer team, which this fall won its second straight NCAA Division II East Region Championship, traveled to New York City armed with 20 winter jackets, 20 hats, 20 scarves and 20 pairs of gloves to hand out to the homeless. The initiative, organized by LIU Post senior international studies major Alexander Billington, was named #WarmerWinter. Collegiate sports teams are required by the NCAA to complete 20 hours of community service each semester, but this particular initiative was a separate endeavor. “I just felt like I had a great group of friends who were all capable of giving back so I wanted to organize something effective, that also had a little bit of longevity,” said Billington. In the past, the men’s soccer team has completed community service events such as working with a special needs soccer team,
spending a day playing sports at a live-in facility for troubled children, volunteering at a charity triathlon and going for a dip at the annual Jones Beach Polar Bear Plunge. “I was skeptical about proposing the idea to the team since we have already completed our community service for the [fall] semester, but knowing the personalities on the team, I decided to go with it and the feedback was really positive,” said Billington. The soccer team members decided to buy 20 new winter jackets from a local thrift store. “I managed to collect $440 in a day just by asking my teammates for $10 or $20. Then we went to the thrift store, only to find out there was 50% off everything. [The discount] enabled us to have money left-over to buy all the hats, scarves and gloves too, so we got really lucky,” said Billington. “It was great to see the reactions when we were giving out the jackets. Many of the people said anything to keep them
warm was a big help,” said Per Forgaard, a graduate business student said. There are many initiatives to assist the homeless in their daily struggle to survive during the winter months and throughout the year, including food programs. NYDailyNews.com reported that there are “1.4 million people, who now rely on a patchwork network of 1,000 emergency food programs across the city, to eat.” “In Iceland, we really don’t have many homeless people,” said LIU Post senior international business administration major Johan Kristjansson said.
“You almost never see them, so sometimes it is frustrating to see so many people in need of help. I’m glad I could be part of something that could help give back.” The international student joined his teammates on their trip to the city. Despite the large patchwork of programs already in place to aid the homeless, Billington said that he still felt that #WarmerWinter was an important initiative, which would lessen the struggle of the homeless to stay warm, especially during the upcoming frigid winter months. “My teammates and I often talk about how freaking cold a
New York winter is, but we barely have to spend time outside, maybe a couple of hours for practice each day,” Billington said. “But when I walk past homeless people in the city, I just think about how cold they must be, how long they have been outside, and how long it will be before they get some warmth.” “I think sometimes people don’t donate to certain charities because they can’t find the money and they feel like their donation is meaningless. The good thing about small, communitybased initiatives is that people feel involved, and they know and feel like they are helping, not to mention the positive effects it can have on our dwindling notions of empathy and sympathy,” Billington added. This article was originally published in the Pioneer, the award-winning student newspaper of LIU Post, www.liupostpioneer.com, and is republished here by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer.
Suarez, Coffey lead Adelphi past Salem, 94-59
A total of 18 3-pointers made helped the Adelphi University men’s basketball team to a 94-59 victory against Salem International to kick off the first of backto-back non-conference games this week. Manny Suarez led four players in double-figures with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five blocks. Mi-
chael Coffey added 15 points while Connor McGuinness came off the bench for 14 and Justin Jenkins netted 10. The Panthers shot 18-for-35 (51.4 percent) from beyond the arc while Anthony Libroia was credited with eight assists and Ryan DeNicola hauled in 11 rebounds.
OW Men top Mount St. Mary’s SUNY Old Westbury men’s basketball used a 50-28 second-half scoring advantage to claim Tuesday’s 69-52 Skyline Conference road win over the Mount Saint Mary Knights in Newburgh. With the win, Old Westbury (3-4) improves to 3-1 in conference play as the Knights (3-5) dropped to 1-4. Both teams combined to miss the game’s first eight shots before Jamail Stanley’s layup finished off a fast break to break the scoring ice for Old Westbury. Daniell Wolff then launched a three pointer to give Mount Saint Mary a 4-3 lead, one of seven first-half lead changes. Mount Saint Mary grew its advantage twice to as much as seven points in the opening half and took a 24-19 lead into intermission. Down by five entering the second half, P.J. Page dialed up a three pointer to
spark Old Westbury’s 9-0 run. Stanley’s pair of made free throws put the Panthers ahead for good (26-24) with 17:27 remaining. Keith Lackerson sank a pair of free throws to ignite a 22-8 Panther run to extend the lead to a game-high 19 points (68-49) with 37 seconds left in regulation. Stanley’s 18 points (7-of-12 FG) and 11 rebounds paced the Panthers with his second double-double of the season. Stephon Odle scored all 15 (4-of-5 FG, 6-of-7 FT) of his points during the second half and finished with seven rebounds. Lackerson followed with 11 points (3-of6 3FG) and eight rebounds while Mark Gjonlekaj swatted three shots and Luckens Victor added two. Gerard Nocera (14 points) and Tyler McDine (13 points) led the Knights with double-digit scoring outputs.
Leading for a majority of the first 20 DeNicola’s rebounding output with minutes of action, the Panthers built their Lamonte Fields coming off the bench for largest lead of the half with six seconds seven points. A trio of 3-pointers to start the secleft as McGuinness knocked down a deep 3-pointer outside the right arc to give ond half helped pulled a 51-25 lead for his team a 42-25 halftime lead. The trey the Brown and Gold that was later extended to 36 points with 5:02 left as Jack capped off a 7-0 run to end the half. Suarez ended the period with a Laffey knocked down a 3-pointer to make game-high 10 points to go along with five the score 86-50. In the final 20 minutes, rebounds, and four blocks while DeNico- the Adelphi bench outscored Salem 30laCHERRY added nine and six08-28-15_Layout points. 14 to finish the contest withPage a 40-25 - 1-8rebounds Page GENERAL 1 8/25/15 12:04 PM 1 adSalem forward Gerard Tarin match vantage.
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