ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 20, 2016) – Winning streaks in conference play can build up enough momentum to propel a team to a long run into March and postseason play. Losing streaks, on the other hand, can be the nail in the coffin and could make programs wonder what could have become of a season that started with promise. The Molloy College men's basketball team is currently staring down the barrel of the latter of the two streaks, needing a win over Daemen College on Friday (Jan. 22) to keep pace in the ever-changing East Coast Conference playoff race.
The Lowdown on the Lions
Molloy has lost its last three straight contests to hold a current overall record of 4-12 (2-6 in East Coast Conference action). The Lions were trumped by Dowling College on Saturday by a final score of 83-77 in a contest that saw eight ties and six lead changes between the two squads. Freshman guard Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) scored a career-high 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds while hitting a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Molloy, as a team, shot 40% (29-72) from the field and 20% (5-25) from three-point territory; anyone in maroon and white that was not named Marquardt went 1-for-16 from three-point range in the loss.
Jenkins' Deserved Accolade
Jenkins was named the East Coast Conference men's basketball Rookie of the Week on Tuesday (Jan. 19) following an impressive three-game week that saw the Farmingdale native break out in a big way. On the heels of an eight-point, five-effort versus Queens on Jan. 12, Jenkins scored 23 points versus Bridgeport two days later before hanging 25 on Dowling on Jan. 16 at Quealy Gymnasium. It was a showcase of basketball supremacy by the fast-rising freshman, who also hit 52.5 percent (21-40) of his field goal attempts versus the three conference foes that he squared off with last week. Jenkins currently has averages of 10.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and certainly looks like he could become the next big star of the Molloy men's basketball program.
Thousand-Point Watch…AGAIN!
Earlier in the season, one of the main storylines for the Lions was the inevitability of senior guard Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) reaching the 1,000-point plateau. Williams did score his 1,000th point back on Jan. 6 against LIU Post, but now there's a possibility he could be joined by not one but two of his current teammates at the 1,000-point barrier by the end of the 2015-16 campaign. Juniors Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) and Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) are closing in on the historic achievement as well, with Morris at 872 career points and Marquardt at 770. With 12 games left in the regular season, Morris needs to average 10.7 points per game to get to 1,000 and Marquardt must average 19.2 points per contest to hit the marker. Like Williams, there is a certain aura of inevitability to Morris reaching the barrier this year; if Marquardt racks up enough three-balls over the last portion of the schedule, he may join in on the thousand-point party this season.
Wildcats Want In
Back in the 2012-13 campaign, Daemen College first began facing East Coast Conference opponents as a reclassifying member of Division II of the NCAA. That year, the Wildcats went 27-6 overall and were the runners-up in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Championship as the team was ineligible for NCAA play. One year later, Daemen went 17-3 in East Coast Conference play and won the ECC regular-season championship but the Wildcats were still ineligible for the conference championship. Then came last season in which Mike MacDonald's club closed out its tenure in the USCAA by winning 20 games overall and being crowned champions while having to wait one more year to be eligible for the ECC Tournament and the NCAA Division II Championship. Now not only are the Wildcats able to compete in postseason tournaments, but the team is riding a four-game winning streak and a conference record of 5-3, which has them in the thick of the playoff picture.
Daemen Running on Petro
Maybe the best basketball player in the history of the Molloy College men's basketball program was Hicksville native and 2013 graduate John Petrucelli. But Daemen has had its share of success with the little brother of "Petro," as sophomore forward Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) has contributed to the Wildcats' good start to the season thus far. In fact, Petrucelli has scored double-digit point totals in his team's last four games (all wins) versus East Coast Conference opponents. The sophomore is averaging 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest for Daemen this season, and he has started the last 11 straight games dating back to Dec. 12.
Torrence Tearing Up Conference
While Petrucelli has proven to be a formidable role player for the Wildcats, it is the play of senior guard Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y.) that is invoking memories of two players who graduated last year from the conference that dominated opponents on a consistent basis: former Wildcats forward Gerald Beverly and former NYIT guard Darian Hooker. But Dyck has consistently torched opponents with three 30-plus point performances over his last four games, including a sensational 35 points versus rival Roberts Wesleyan back on Jan. 12. The Rochester native is at 23.5 points per game, a mark which is tops in the conference, while shooting 55% from the field as well. Dyck is proving to be a formidable guard with a propensity to score in bunches, and he could be the tipping point for the Wildcats in their march to the ECC postseason.
Series Still Growing
Molloy and Daemen have played just five times heading into Friday's match-up, with the Wildcats leading the series 3-2. The maroon and white won the first match-up back on Nov. 10, 2012 in Rockville Centre on a steal-and-score by
Matt McLeod to take an 80-79 win. But the Wildcats have won the last three contests, starting with a 111-72 blowout of the Lions back in February of 2014. Last year, Daemen defended Lumsden Gymnasium with a 14-point win versus Molloy on Dec. 12, 2014 before stealing an 82-76 overtime victory over the maroon and white in Rockville Centre on Jan. 30, 2015.
