Box Score vs. NYIT - March 2, 2011
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Mar. 2, 2011) – Tied at 66-66 with 23 seconds to go in regulation, New York Institute of Technology sophomore guard Dominic Scurry (Ozone Park, N.Y.) went end-to-end for a lay-up to put the Bears up for good. Senior guard Eric Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) then netted a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch to seal a 70-66 win against the Molloy College men's basketball team in an East Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday at Recreation Hall in Old Westbury, N.Y.
Before rallying to take the lead, No. 4 seed NYIT trailed 64-58 with just over three minutes left. The Bears rattled off an ensuing 6-0 run in a stint of 1:03 to tie up the contest for the fifth time with 2:38 remaining. Senior guard Daniel Berg (Osteras, Norway) opened the spurt with a pair of makes from the line. Scurry drained lay-ups on consecutive possessions. Senior forward Tolulade Jegede (Elmont, N.Y.) ended the burst with a lay-up off of a put-back effort. But, a pair of Rodriguez free throws sent the game into a 66-66 stalemate.
Down 15-14 with just under 13 minutes to go in the opening stanza, the Bears pieced together a 7-0 run over a span of 1:25 to grab a 21-15 cushion at the 11:30 mark. Rodriguez knocked down one of his three triples on the evening. Scurry and Berg capped it with two free throws apiece. The Miami product added his second trifecta minutes later to put NYIT (13-14, 10-11 ECC) ahead by eight (32-24). But, fifth-seeded Molloy answered with an 8-0 streak in a four-minute stretch to knot things up at 32-all with 1:12 elapsed.
Junior center Dariel Concha (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Jegede netted back-to-back lay-ups. Sophomore guard Jimmy Nolan (Plantation, Fla.), who scored a game-high 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting, closed the run with a deuce from just inside the arc. It eventually proved to be any team's game as NYIT headed into the break with a mere one-point lead (35-34). Rodriguez led the Bears in the period with nine points. Molloy was led in its scoring department by Nolan, collecting 15 points – nine of which came off makes from beyond the arc.
In the second half, neither team managed a lead more than seven points. Knotted at 40-40 with over 16 minutes remaining, Molloy registered a 10-4 charge in a three-minute spurt to go up six (50-44) with 12:34 to go. Concha scored six of the points. Nolan and Jegede added two points apiece. NYIT chipped away at the two-possession match-up, cutting the deficit to two points (51-49) with 11:30 to go. However, the duo of Jegede and freshman center Tyler Hammett (Clifton Park, N.Y.) extended the Lions' lead to seven with less than six minutes left.
In addition to Nolan, Molloy (9-18, 9-12 ECC) put three other players in double figures for scoring. Jegede raked up 15 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard John Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.), the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year, totaled 14 points, three rebounds and two steals. Concha compiled 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hammett earned five points and crashed the glass for five rebounds for the Lions, who shot a dazzling 57.4 percent (27-of-47) from the floor, which included a 60.9 success rate in the first half.
For NYIT, which shot 40.0 percent (20-of-50) from the field, Rodriguez poured in 15 points. Berg had 14 points and six assists. Scurry chipped in 12 points. Senior forward Jerrell Walker (Stockton, Calif.) and junior guard Jahari McKnight (El Sobrante, Calif.) added nine points apiece. Walker also pulled down eight rebounds.
Head Coach Charles Marquardt and the Lions have now closed out the 2010-11 campaign. For more information on the Molloy men's basketball program, please continue to check back at MolloyLions.com.
