Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Dec. 11, 2013) - On Wednesday evening, the Molloy College men's basketball team fell to East Coast Conference-opponent the University of Bridgeport, 86-76 at the Hubbell Gymnasium in Bridgeport, Conn. Individually, the Lions received an epic performance from senior forward
John Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.), who poured in 39 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. This outing came a week after scoring 32 points against Holy Family University.
With the win, the Purple Knights improved to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Meanwhile, following the loss, the Lions slipped to 2-6 on the season and 1-1 in the ECC.
Trading buckets was the name of the game to start this competition as the score remained within a few points of a tie over the opening 10 minutes. The Purple Knights then started to open up the lead and eventually notched a 24-15 advantage with 8:13 remaining. The Lions answered back and hung in the matchup with a 12-4 run, with 10 of those points coming from Petrucelli. Just a few minutes later, the Lions knotted the score at 31-all when sophomore guard
Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) drained a jumper (4:12 left). The contest stayed close in the final minutes of the first stanza as Molloy headed into the locker room with a 40-39 lead.
Until the 5:58 mark in the second half, no team led by more than five points. Bridgeport strung together a couple of clutch buckets, in addition to making seven of their eight free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. Molloy's ultimate demise was fueled by shooting just 25.0% from the floor (8-for-32) in the second half.
For the Lions, Petrucelli scored 39 for a new career-high, while adding 13 rebounds, three steals and one block. Junior guard
Matt McLeod (Greenlawn, N.Y.) contributed 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Off the bench scoring the first six points of his collegiate career was freshman forward
Joe Campay (East Meadow, N.Y.).
For the Purple Knights, Sean Berry had 31 points to lead his squad, while JoJo Swift and Antoine Brown scored 20 and 15 points, respectively. Those three players combined for 18 rebounds. Swift completed his double-double with 12 assists.
UP NEXT: Head Coach
Charlie Marquardt and the Lions return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 14 when they host ECC-foe Dowling College at 2:30 p.m.
TUNE IN: If you're unable to attend the contest at Quealy Gymnasium, all the play-by-play action will be streamed live via www.MolloyLions.com with a complete audio/video feed, along with LiveStats.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: @MolloyLions | Facebook: Molloy College Athletics | YouTube: Molloy Lions
