ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Nov. 16, 2015) - Call it a Hempstead Turnpike battle, a war of the Lions or just a Division I/II crossover. Monday night (Nov. 16), the Molloy College men's basketball team will test its mettle with a showcase at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex against Hofstra University at 7 p.m. The contest is the third game in three days for a travel-weary yet hungry Lions team that is searching for its first victory of the 2015-16 season and looking to follow what Saint Thomas Aquinas did against St. John's and what Adelphi was able to achieve versus Manhattan earlier this season---but this time in a regular-season contest.
The Lowdown on the Lions:
79 was the magic number for Molloy this past weekend, as the Lions scored that point total in both of their games at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Classic. However, the offenses of Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's were better in both games, as the Hawks were victorious 102-79 on Saturday and the Purple Knights scurried home with an 84-79 victory. In both contests, junior guard
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) scored 22 points to lead Molloy in that statistical category. Against Saint Michael's, sharpshooter
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) hit six three-pointers and senior guard
Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) nearly posted a triple-double with nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Points on the Pride:The Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorite needed an epic second-half comeback to dispatch of Canisius College on Friday (Nov. 13) in the season opener with the Pride earning a 96-85 victory. Junior guard Brian Bernardi (Staten Island, N.Y.) put forth a performance for the ages with 26 points on a night where he shot 8-for-11 from beyond the three-point line. Five other Hofstra players totaled double figures in points, including CAA Preseason Player of the Year Juan'ya Green (Philadelphia, Pa.), who had 16 to go along with 11 assists. Senior guard Malik Nichols (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore big man Rokas Gustys (Kaunas, Lithuania) also recorded double-doubles with 13 points and 10 rebounds each.
Crash The BoardsUtilizing a four-guard set in the contests at Saint Thomas Aquinas was more due to the talent of the shooting core than anything else for the maroon and white. That said, the Lions were bullied and tamed on the glass as they ended the weekend with a minus-21.5 rebounding margin. Hofstra is plus-seven on the blocks and started three players against Canisius that were taller than six-foot-five in Gustys (6'9''), graduate forward Denton Koon (Liberty, Mo., 6'8'') and senior Ameen Tanksley (Philadelphia, Pa., 6'6'').
Bright Lights, Big StageMolloy is not used to playing in front of crowds the likes of which they could see Monday night at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Last year, the Lions played their road games in front of an average crowd of 263 fans. Hofstra's victory over Canisius on Friday evening came in front of a crowd that totaled nearly 2,200 in a 5,000-seat venue that has also hosted comedy shows, ethnic festivals, and the Second Presidential Debate back in 2012.
Close EncountersIn addition to the fact that Hofstra and Molloy play so close to each other from a geographic standpoint, three of the Lions' players graduated from high school just past the Hofstra campus. Senior
Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) and freshmen
Mike Torre (Massapequa, N.Y.) and
Derrick Okunpolor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) were all members of the varsity basketball team at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale across from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
