ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Nov. 15, 2015) - Unlike the matchup Saturday night (Nov. 14) that was a first-ever meeting between Molloy and Saint Anselm, the men's basketball team will play Sunday (Nov. 15) against a foe they have faced each of the last three seasons in Saint Michael's. Both squads will be looking to pick up the first win of the new season and resume a rivalry that has featured plenty of close games.
The Lowdown on the Lions:
Molloy opened a 12-2 run to start its contest with Saint Anselm on Saturday but the Hawks provided too much offense as the Lions fell 102-79 at Aquinas Hall in the Saint Thomas Aquinas Classic. Junior guard
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) had 22 points to lead the maroon and white while fellow junior
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) had 18 and was 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) was impressive in his Molloy debut with 16 points and the Lions did a nice job keeping the ball by only committing six turnovers. That said, Saint Anselm burned the maroon and white with a 61% field goal shooting performance and a 50-23 margin in the rebounding category.
Points on the Purple Knights:
Saint Michael's fell victim to a 24-turnover night and a hot-shooting Saint Thomas Aquinas club in losing to the Spartans by a score of 77-61. Junior forward Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md.) led the way with 17 points for the Purple Knights, also pulling down 10 rebounds. The only other player for Saint Michael's in double-digit point totals was senior Morrell Gaskins (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) who had 15 points on the night. The visitors were plus-10 (39-29) in the rebounding category but watched as STAC shot 49% from the field (29-59) in the contest. Even more impressive for the Spartans was their near-perfect night (15-16, 94%) from the free-throw line in defeating the Northeast-10 representatives from Colchester, Vt.
Rivalry Brewing, Built on Close ContestsThe first time Molloy and Saint Michael's met was in 1998 at the ECAC Tournament in the semifinals. The Purple Knights eked out a 69-67 victory over the Lions in that contest. The teams have met five times since then, and three of the contests have been decided by two points or fewer. That includes last year's matchup at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Classic in which Molloy gutted out a 79-77 triumph thanks to 19 points from both Marquardt and now-senior guard
Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.). The Purple Knights, meanwhile, authored a devastating blow back in 2012, beating Molloy on a last-second three-pointer in overtime at Quealy Gymnasium in a 52-51 struggle on Dec. 16.
