Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Mar. 7, 2014) - On Friday evening, the Molloy College men's basketball team nearly completed a comeback that reached a 19-point deficit. The third-seeded Lions, however, fell just short of advancing to the East Coast Conference Championship Final as the second-seeded Purple Knights of the University of Bridgeport pulled out a 79-75 victory in the semifinal game at the Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium. With the win, Bridgeport improved to 17-10 and will face the fifth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans, who upset the top-seeded Dowling College, in the finals on Sunday. With the loss, the Lions finish the season with a 17-13 ledger.
The two clubs virtually swapped halves in terms of solid offensive production. In the opening period, Bridgeport outscored Molloy, 43-32, while in the second, Molloy held a 43-36 advantage.
For the first 15 minutes of the game, the Lions never trailed by more than six points as they battled to keep up with Bridgeport's offense. The Purple Knights were able to find a cushion heading into the intermission as Bridgeport reeled off a 10-2 run to close out the half. One important note: by scoring a layup at the 14:52 mark, Molloy senior forward
John Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) scored career points 1,998 and 1,999. Five minutes later, he was fouled and stepped to the free throw line looking to make program and school history. As he floated the first foul shot up and it sunk through the net, he looked up and had finally recorded career point 2,000. Petrucelli is the first player in Molloy history to score 2,000 points all as a Lion.
After the break, Bridgeport wasted little time in the beginning of the second half to expand its lead and look to lock down a return-trip to the ECC title game. With seven minutes elapsed in the half, Sean Berry slammed down a dunk to give the Purple Knights their largest lead of the game, 57-38. Molloy never shyed away and kept chipping at the lead; battling for its own berth in the league's championship contest. Seven minutes from that point, Molloy had knocked its deficit down to seven points (67-60, 7:02 remaining). The Lions then brought it down to four points, before Bridgeport received a layup from JoJo Swift at the two-minute mark. That Swift bucket and a few free throws down the stretch still prohibited Molloy from tying the score.
A few seconds later, junior guard
Matt McLeod (Greenlawn, N.Y.) sunk a critical three-pointer to keep his team close. Down by seven with just eight seconds left to play, freshman guard
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) drained a three-ball, cutting the Purple Knights' lead to 79-75. Despite Bridgeport missing two free throws after that, Molloy wasn't able to find four points in so little time. The Purple Knights locked up their spot in the title game and will get to defend its 2012-13 ECC crown versus the Spartans, who upset No. 1 Dowling in overtime, 84-81.
For Molloy, McLeod finished with a team-high 18 points, to go along with six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Petrucelli, who played in his final game as a Lion, notched 14 points, which puts his final collegiate career points tally at 2,011. He also had eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals to cap off a legendary Molloy career. Freshman forward
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) had 15 points, nine of which came from three-point land. Senior center
Tyler Hammett, who also played in his final Molloy game, had 11 points.
For Bridgeport, Berry recorded 22 points and 19 rebounds, while Swift had 12 points. Ognjen Zoric contributed 11 points.
This concludes the 2013-14 campaign for Head Coach
Charles Marquardt and the Lions. Please stay tuned to MolloyLions.com throughout the offseason and summer for any news, notes and updates regarding the men's basketball program as the Lions gear up for another quest to win an ECC championship -- starting November 2014.
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