Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 9, 2016) - A combined 71 points from Molloy's
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.),
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.),
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and
Maurice Gatson (New York, N.Y.) led the Lions to an 88-68 win over NYIT on Saturday in East Coast Conference men's basketball action at Quealy Gymnasium.
Molloy (4-9, 2-3 ECC) grabbed an early lead thanks to consecutive buckets by Jenkins and Gatson, and the Lions would not relinquish the lead as NYIT (1-12, 0-6 ECC) fell further and further behind in the early stages of the first half. Marquardt spurred a 9-0 run with two three-pointers and a lay-up that gave the maroon and white a 13-1 lead with 15:50 to play in the opening half. The Lions continued to build upon their impressive lead with the help of their bench players, as freshman guard
Chris O'Reilly (Colts Neck, N.J.) hit a three at the 8:53 mark of the first half to extend Molloy's lead to 15 points at 26-11. The Bears crawled back to within four several minutes later as Maksis Uskans (Riga, Latvia) launched a trifecta that put NYIT down 35-31. Molloy, though, utilized a 15-2 run to close out the first half in taking advantage of poor free throw shooting by their opponents to earn a 17-point edge at 50-33 going into the locker room.
The Lions continued the onslaught in the second half, with Morris sending down a thunderous slam dunk off of an O'Reilly inbounds pass to give the Lions a 60-38 lead with 17:13 remaining. Morris sent home another highlight-reel jam a few minutes later, giving Molloy a 66-44 lead with 14:52 to play as the maroon and white would get quality minutes from its entire bench. Senior forward
Chucks Obunse (St. Albans, N.Y.) had three points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action, whereas sophomore guard
Adrian Denner (Franklin Square, N.Y.) added three points and three rebounds in nine minutes. Freshmen forwards
Mike Torre (Massapequa, N.Y.) and
Derrick Okunpolor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) added points off the bench as well, while sophomore center
Shandy Casimir (Middletown, N.Y.) also played a minute for the Lions in the victory.
Morris nearly collected a triple-double in the win with 27 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Molloy. Marquardt scored 17 points while adding eight rebounds and three steals, as Jenkins poured in 14 points and Gatson added 13. Senior forward
Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) had four points and five rebounds in yet another solid outing for the maroon and white this season. The Lions shot 46% (33-72) from the field in the victory and 72% (18-25) from the free-throw line as well. The win for the maroon and white came despite a minus-four margin (49-45) in the rebounding category versus NYIT. Leading the Bears was freshman forward Jeffrey Hayden (New York, N.Y.), who contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds but shot 8-for-20 from the free throw line. Uskans scored 14 points off the bench and senior forward Jerrel Green (Stockton, Calif.) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.\
Head Coach
Charles Marquardt and the Molloy men's basketball team will next take on the Knights of Queens College on Tuesday (Jan. 12) in Flushing, N.Y.
