Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Dec. 2, 2015) - On a night when the group delivered a 96% (21-22) performance from the free-throw line, the Molloy College men's basketball team captured win No. 1 of the 2015-16 season by defeating Dominican (N.Y.) 74-58 at Quealy Gymnasium Wednesday evening. The Lions improve to 1-5 on the year while the Chargers fall to 1-6 so far this season.
The maroon and white opened the game with a lead after senior forward
Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) showed his range by knocking down a three-pointer with just fourteen seconds gone by in the first half. It marked the sixth consecutive game in which the Lions had held a lead at some point, but Dominican charged into the advantage on the heels of a 6-0 spurt including four points from graduate forward Will Wise (Philadelphia, Pa.). Dominican took a 9-5 lead thanks to a three-ball from Sean O'Reilly (Colts Neck, N.J.) which was followed by a basket in the paint from sophomore forward Gerrel Irvin (Bay Shore, N.Y.) as the red and black opened up a six-point edge. The Chargers led 13-7 with 12 minutes exactly on the clock before juniors
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) and
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) buried back-to-back trifectas to level the score and sophomore guard
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) reclaimed the lead with a jumper in the paint midway through the opening frame.
Dominican battled back thanks to freshman guard Koree Hargreaves (Teaneck, N.J.) and senior point man Joe Clinton (Pearl River, N.Y.) getting two points apiece to put their squad ahead 17-15 with eight minutes remaining. With just over four minutes to go and the score tied at 19, freshman lefty
Chris O'Reilly (Colts Neck, N.J.) buried a deep three-pointer to put Molloy ahead 22-19 and a
Maurice Gatson (New York, N.Y.) bucket gave the Lions a 24-21 edge one minute later. The maroon and white then took three trips to the line as Bowles converted his two attempts and senior guard
Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) swished four straight tries from the stripe to put Molloy ahead at the end of the first half by a score of 30-27.
Three times prior to Wednesday night had Molloy held a lead after 20 minutes of hoops, and three times prior had the Lions watched their advantage dissipate into a disheartening loss. The Chargers, eager to make it four out of four, took a 36-34 lead three minutes in on an Austin John Huggins (Astoria, N.Y.) two-pointer in the lane. Bowles evened things with a jumper before Jenkins knocked down a pair of free throws a minute later to put the Lions ahead and Marquardt connected on a long-distance jump shot to give the maroon and white a 41-36 lead with 15:27 to go in the game. But the Chargers clawed back into the contest again as E.J. Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) sank a trey and hit two free throws to cut the maroon and white's lead to one at 45-44 with 12:47 to play. When Molloy needed him most, Marquardt delivered with another three-pointer to extend the Lions' lead to four just seconds later, and at 50-48 he struck with another impressive showing of distance shooting by sinking a treble at the 10:39 mark of the game.
Then the show turned to Gatson who scored Molloy's next eight points with two jumpers in the paint and four free throws as the Lions opened a 59-50 lead with under 10 minutes to go in the contest. Following Gatson's last lay-up which made the score 61-52, Bowles and Williams hit three free throws before Morris thundered down a two-handed slam dunk as Molloy's lead swelled to 14 points with less than five minutes to play. The Chargers' offense had no answers as the Lions continued to knock down free opportunities at the line to dispel any hopes for their opponents and enter the win column for the first time in the 2015-16 season.
Despite going a combined 9-for-26 from the field, Williams and Marquardt both had a game-high 16 points for the maroon and white in the win. In particular, Williams had eight assists and also knocked down all eight of his free throw attempts while Marquardt had four rebounds and three steals. Morris finished with a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) while Bowles turned in a solid eight-point, nine-board effort. Jenkins also delivered eight points and nine rebounds off the bench while Gatson totaled 10 points as the sixth man for the Lions in the victory. Molloy shot 35% from the field (23-66) but delivered when it mattered most, delivering the near-perfect mark from the free-throw line as mentioned earlier.
Wise had a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) for the Chargers to lead them in the losing effort as 12 different Dominican players scored in the game as a whole. Freshman forward Travis Cook (Middletown, N.Y.) had eight points, five rebounds and four assists while sophomore forward Altine King (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had six points and seven boards off the bench. The Chargers were undone by 17 turnovers, which were turned into 19 points by the Lions. Both teams collected 40 rebounds in the contest, the first time all season that Molloy did not lose the rebounding battle to the opposition.
Head Coach
Charlie Marquardt and the Molloy College men's basketball team will begin a four-game road trip next Wednesday (Dec. 9) with a trek to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. for the Lions' conference opener against Mercy College at 7:30 p.m.
