CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Mar. 5, 2014) - On Tuesday, the East Coast Conference office released its All-Conference men's basketball teams and awards. The league's head coaches voted Molloy College senior forward
John Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) as the Player of the Year, as well as to the All-ECC First Team, turning predictions into reality as he was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year back in November. In addition, junior guard teammate
Matt McLeod (Greenlawn, N.Y.) received All-Honorable Mention laurels.
Petrucelli, a four-time All-Conference recipient, takes home the ECC's top honor in his senior season. In 28 games, Petrucelli has poured in a conference-leading 23.7 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting. His scoring prowess, which also currently ranks seventh in all of NCAA Division II, led to him eclipsing the Molloy program record for points earlier this season. He currently has 1,983 for his career -- just 17 shy of hitting the elite 2,000-point club. Petrucelli does much more than score for the Lions, stuffing the stat sheet in numerous categories. He ranks in the top 10 in the conference in nine different categories, including: minutes per game (36.1), rebounds (208), and steals (103). His steals total and steals per game number (3.68) are tops in all of NCAA Division II.
He also broke a few other program records, including: points in a single game (39 vs. Bridgeport on December 11, 2013), points in a single season (currently has 664), made field goals in a single season (235), points per game in a single season (23.7), made field goals in a game (16 vs. UDC on Jan. 15, 2014), steals in a single season (103) and steals per game in a single season (3.68).
McLeod ranks second on the team with 13.7 points per game, while his .832 free throw shooting percentage is good for second in the ECC. The Greenlawn product set a new program record with 16 made foul shots on Nov. 10, 2013 versus Felician College. This is McLeod's second All-Conference accolade; he was also named to the All-ECC Rookie Team after the 2011-12 campaign. McLeod was second on the Lions with a .361 three-point shooting percentage and 6.1 rebounds per game, while third on the squad with 1.9 assists per contest.
Petrucelli, McLeod and the rest of the third-seeded Lions take on the sixth-seeded Queens College Knights tonight, March 5 when they host QC in an ECC First Round playoff matchup. The opening tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Quealy Gymnasium. LiveStats and a complete video broadcast with play-by-play will be available right here on www.MolloyLions.com. The pre-game show will get underway at 6:45 p.m.
The winner of tonight's game will advance to face the No. 2-seed University of Bridgeport on Friday, March 7 in the ECC semifinals.
