Molloy University Athletics

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Dec. 11, 2015) – After a thrilling win against Mercy College, the Molloy men's basketball team continue their tour of the East Coast Conference. The maroon and white will travel to Sparkill, N.Y. to face ECC rivals Saint Thomas Aquinas College.

The Lowdown on the Lions
Through the first five games of the season, the Lions had not tasted a victory despite leading in every contest they had played. Molloy is now the owners of a two-game winning streak on back-to-back Wednesday nights, knocking off Dominican (N.Y.) by a 74-58 score on Dec. 2 and then coming back from a 14-point deficit to defeat Mercy 77-76 on Dec. 9 in Dobbs Ferry. The Lions won despite losing many of the intangibles, including being outrebounded by the Mavericks 47-33. Down the stretch, however, the Lions were able to make their field goal attempts as Mercy hit just one of six field goal attempts in the final minute of action. Senior forward Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) had 12 points on a 6-for-9 shooting performance but he certainly was not alone in getting the Lions' their first ECC win of the season.

M&M Boys
Leading the way for the Lions are junior guards Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) and Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.). Morris currently leads the team with 18.4 points per game. The Amherst native is also knocking down shots at an impressive 56.1% clip and had 23 points on a 10-for-12 performance from the field versus the Mavs. Marquardt is second in scoring with 14.9 points per game, despite scoring just two points in the win over Mercy. The Rockaway Beach native is hitting just 34.6% of his field goal attempts but has found his touch from the free throw line in hitting 92% (11-12) of his shots from the stripe thus far.

History Bound
Senior guard Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) inched closer to 1,000 career points after the Lions' matchup against Mercy. Williams had a career-high 27 points in the win, giving him 942 career points through his stellar four-year career in Rockville Centre. Though the Baldwin native will more than likely not get to the historic marker on Saturday---barring a Kobe Bryant-esque performance---there is a chance of the milestone occasion occurring before the end of the calendar year. Should Williams finish 2015 below the 1,000-point plateau, the Lions will start 2016 at home for two games with the senior guard having a chance to become the 14th member of the 1,000-point club in front of the Molloy faithful at Quealy Gymnasium.

Spartan Up!
The defending champions of the East Coast Conference's regular season placed a target on their own backs with a 90-58 drubbing of Division I St. John's University back on Nov. 4 in an exhibition at Carnesecca Arena in Queens. Though the 5-3 overall record looks favorable, there is a good chance that Head Coach Tobin Anderson is looking more at the 1-1 mark in ECC play as his team heads into Saturday's matchup. The Spartans lost a mild upset on Wednesday night (Dec. 9) as Queens College led wire-to-wire for a 69-64 victory at Aquinas Hall. Sophomore guard Shaquille McFarlan (Mesic, N.C.) had a team-high 17 points while ECC Preseason Player of the Year Chaz Watler (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 13 points. Red-shirt sophomore forward Justin Reyes (Haverhill, Mass.) had nine points and 13 rebounds but the Spartans were undone by a high-scoring Knights bench that was plus-23 (37-14) in that statistic.

Young Guns
The Spartans have six freshmen on the team and only one senior after the graduation of seniors Marcus Henderson, Alushula Odongo and Jonathan McNair from last year's club. That being said, many of the main players are still around for Saint Thomas Aquinas, including Watler, Reyes and Australian big man Jules de Courtenay (Brisbane, Australia). With a roster that looks somewhat similar to last year's historic team, STAC was predicted by many to continue to battle for an ECC Championship despite their early struggles this season.

Matchup History
The Lions hold an 11-9 series lead over the previous 20 match-ups versus the Spartans, but last year favored Saint Thomas Aquinas. Molloy was swept in the season series in 2014-15, dropping an 84-80 decision at home on Dec. 20 before losing at Aquinas Hall by a score of 75-67 on Feb. 7. 2015.