Box Score AMHERST, N.Y. (Jan. 22, 2016) – A series of scoring droughts doomed the Molloy College men's basketball team to an 81-64 loss to Daemen College in Amherst on Friday. Molloy fell to 4-13 overall and 2-7 in East Coast Conference competition, while the Wildcats of Daemen improved to 10-6 and 6-3 in ECC play this season.
Defending home court for the Wildcats meant starting the first half on a 7-2 run in the first two-and-a-half minutes. First, red-shirt freshman guard Deion Hamilton (Rochester, N.Y.) opened the game with a three-pointer and then traded lay-ups with first-year guard Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) for the Lions in the game's first 90 seconds. One minute later, Daemen led by five on a tip-in from junior forward Arif Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y.) but the game would eventually be tied at 9-all on a three-pointer by senior forward Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) at the 14:24 mark of the first half. Unfortunately for Molloy, senior guard Torrence Dyck (Rochester, N.Y.) led an 11-0 charge over the next four minutes that included a three-pointer from junior guard Jesse Lalka (Tonawanda, N.Y.) as Daemen captured a 20-9 lead with 10 minutes to play. An 8-0 run by Molloy was spurred on thanks to four points from freshman Derrick Okunpolor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) a dunk from Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) and free throws by Maurice Gatson (New York, N.Y.). The Lions would get as close as three points at 22-19 with 6:26 to play in the half, but the Wildcats ended the half on a 14-6 run to sprint into the locker room with a 36-25 lead. Mehmetaj, Dyck and Hamilton combined to score 12 of Daemen's points in that stretch while Molloy was limited to lay-ups by Okunpolor and Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) and a jumper by sophomore guard Adrian Denner (Franklin Square, N.Y.).
In the second half, junior guard Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) exploded with two three-pointers in a span of 17 seconds to bring Molloy within a 38-31 score with about two minutes gone by. After Dyck and Mehmetaj hit back-to-back lay-ups to give the hosts a 42-31 lead, the Lions responded with six points to cut the deficit to five with 15:30 left on the clock. Though the Wildcats built up consistent leads, Marquardt continued to knock down long-range three-pointers with the fourth trifecta bringing Molloy within four points at 47-43 with 12:22 remaining in regulation. The lead was in sight for the maroon and white, but the hosts leaned on the reigning ECC and USBWA Division II National Player of the Week to start an 8-0 spurt as Dyck bookended the run with lay-ups; the finishing touches on the rally gave Daemen a 55-43 lead with nine minutes to go in the game. The further the clock ran down, the more the game favored the Wildcats and the perfect indicator of this came with just over six minutes to play in the game. With Daemen up 61-48 and in possession of the ball, Dyck tried a lay-up and missed but junior forward Alex Borges (Erie, Pa.) snared the offensive rebound. Borges then attempted a tip-in that would not fall, but the ball fell to freshman guard Jay Sarkis (Rochester, N.Y.). Sarkis then rose and fired a jumper that would tickle the twine, and the hosts' third-chance effort upped their lead to 15 at 63-48.
Williams scored on a lay-up to bring the Lions within 13 again but the Wildcats put the game away with a 7-0 run in the next 90 seconds. Junior guard Jaleo Wilkes (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) scored consecutive buckets followed by a Mehmetaj three-ball that gave Daemen a 70-50 lead with four-and-a-half minutes left in the contest. The Lions would never get closer than 15 points in the game as the hosts cruised to a successful defense of Lumsden Gymnasium.
Marquardt led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 8-of-19 from the field (42.1%) in the effort. The junior, however, hit just four three-point shots while attempting 14 for a 28.6% efficiency rating from deep territory. No other player scored double-digit points for the maroon and white, with Williams and Okunpolor scoring eight apiece. The freshman forward from Lynbrook shined off the bench for the Lions, going 4-for-7 (57.1%) with four rebounds as well in 10 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Morris had an off night with just four points while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. It was a cold performance from the Lions overall, with 30.6% (22-72) of the team's field goals falling and just 19.2% (5-26) of the squad's three-pointers going in the hoop. For the second straight game, any player not named Marquardt hit just one long-range shot in a loss.
Dyck had a team-high 20 points for Daemen in the win, while Mehmetaj added 19. Both players collected nine rebounds each while hitting a combined 12-of-26 from the field. Sarkis created an immediate impact with nine points, hitting 80% (4-5) of his shots in the victory. The Wildcats pumped in a 44.1% (26-59) effort from the field with a 35.3% (6-17) performance from three-point land. Daemen was also plus-nine (50-41) in the rebounding statistic.
The Molloy College men's basketball team will conclude the trip to Western New York on Saturday (Jan. 23) with a 6 p.m. tip at Voller Athletic Center in Rochester versus Roberts Wesleyan.
