Molloy University Athletics

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Nov. 14, 2015) - It has to be said to be believed but when the Molloy College men's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season on Saturday evening (Nov. 14), the opponent that will be facing the Lions will be a team that has never faced the maroon and white before. In the 23-year history of the Molloy College men's basketball program, the Lions have never matched up with the Hawks of Saint Anselm College until Saturday, when the teams will kick off the Saint Thomas Aquinas Classic in Sparkill, N.Y. The match-up will also feature a titanic battle between two of the East Region's longest-tenured head coaches as Charles Marquardt begins his 22nd season manning the sidelines for Molloy against a Hawks team led by 30-year head coach Keith Dickson.

The Lowdown on the Lions:
2014-15 Season: 16-13, 11-9 ECC (No. 5 Seed in ECC Tournament, lost in Play-In Round to LIU Post)
2015-16 Preseason Outlook: Picked fifth in the ECC Preseason Poll
Returning Letterwinners: 8
Graduated Seniors: 3
New Players on Roster: 4
Leading Returning Scorers: Brandon Williams (14.3 PPG) & Jaylen Morris (13.9 PPG)
Leading Returning Rebounders: Morris (5.4 RPG) & Williams/Charlie Marquardt (3.5 RPG)
Returning Assist Leader: Williams (4.3 APG)
Leading Returning Field-Goal Shooters: Maurice Gatson (48.0% FG) & Morris (46.2%)
Leading Returning Three-Point Shooters: Marquardt (38.1% 3-Point) & Kevin Bowles (35.5% 3-Point) 


The Skinny on Saint Anselm:
2014-15 Season: 19-10, 14-7 NE-10 (No. 2 Seed in Northeast Division, lost in NE-10 Championship Game to American International, lost in NCAA Quarterfinals to USciences)
2015-16 Preseason Outlook: Picked fifth in NE-10 Preseason Poll
Returning Letterwinners: 8
Graduated Seniors: 3
New Players on Roster: 6
Leading Returning Scorers: Mike McCahey (15.7 PPG) & Victor Joshua (11.0 PPG)
Leading Returning Rebounders: McCahey (7.6 RPG) & Harrison Taggart (5.9 RPG)
Returning Assist Leaders: Joshua (3.4 APG) & Taggart (2.8 APG)
Leading Returning Field-Goal Shooters: Ryan Hartung (46.1% FG) & McCahey (44.8% FG)
Leading Returning Three-Point Shooters: Hartung (42.3% 3-Point) & McCahey (40.9% 3-Point)

Draw The Foul, Toe The Line, Sink the Freebies
Molloy was one of the best in the country last season at making the most out of free chances by hitting 77.3% of their shots from the free-throw line. Now-senior guard Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) went to the line 166 times in 2014-15 and made 142 shots from the stripe, setting a new record for highest single-season free-throw percentage by a Molloy men's basketball player at 85.2%. Williams also enters the year third all-time in career free-throw percentage, with a mark of 77.2% from the charity stripe; that's higher than former teammate and now-professional player John Petrucelli, who sank 75% of his free throws in a Molloy uniform. Meanwhile, Saint Anselm was also a good free-throw shooting team as the Hawks ranked inside the top-50 with a 73.9% average from the line.

Take Care of The Rock, and The Rock Will Take Care of You
Both teams were equally stingy at forcing turnovers and limiting mistakes. Molloy averaged a 1.0 assist/turnover ratio and gave the ball away just 11 times per contest while forcing 14.5 turnovers per game last season by opponents. Saint Anselm, on the other hand, had a 1.3 ATR and committed 344 giveaways while taking the ball away from opponents 375 times in 2014-15. Positive numbers in the assist/turnover ratio category generally forecast positive results: Molloy has three straight winning seasons while Saint Anselm has also had a winning record in three straight years.

Win Regionally, Not Nationally
In Division II basketball, a win against a high-powered opponent outside of the region---albeit impressive---tends to not carry the same weight as a win against a high-powered opponenst inside the region. In Saint Anselm, Molloy faces a team that has made three straight Northeast-10 semifinals as well as three straight NCAA Tournaments. The Hawks, under the tutelage of Dickson, have made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and 28 Northeast-10 Tourneys with the ultimate year of success coming in 1999-2000 as the Hawks were one of the last eight teams playing in the NCAA Championship that season.

Conference vs. Conference Showcase
Saint Anselm owned the ECC in two games last year by defeating Bridgeport and Dowling to start the season in Connecticut. The Hawks roughed up a Purple Knights squad that would go on to win its third consecutive ECC Tournament come March before squeaking away with a 96-93 win against a surprising Dowling team that ended up as a semifinalist as the No. 6 seed. Meanwhile, Molloy enjoyed some early success against the NE-10 at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Classic, defeating Pace and Saint Michael's by two points in back-to-back decisions. The Lions did finish off games against the NE-10 with a defeat, however, suffering a 99-92 loss to Bentley on Dec. 9 of last year.