ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Dec. 3, 2016) – In an incredibly close game, the Molloy men's basketball team proved they can compete at a top level, falling by only two points to Saint Thomas Aquinas College, currently ranked No. 6 in the country. The Spartans stay undefeated on the season, moving to 7-0 on the year and 2-0 in conference action. Molloy falls to 3-5 on the year, and 0-1 in East Coast Conference play.
STAC got out to an early lead, up 14-4 with 15:13 left in the first half. The Lions rallied to within four points on layups from
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.),
Nick Corbett (Staten Island, N.Y.), and
Mike Torre (Massapequa, N.Y.). The teams would continue putting up shots, but the Spartans were finally able to gain a 12-point advantage following a three-pointer from Chaz Watler (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with just over eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. The Lions, however, continued fighting to cut into the Spartans' lead. The maroon and white made the most of their opportunities, as Marquardt and Corbett combined to make six consecutive free throws.
Mike Guzzardi (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) added a jump shot to bring Molloy within four points with one minute remaining in the half. A late foul would send
Justin Reyes (Haverhill, Mass.) to the line. The redshirt junior would sink both of his shots to bring the score to 39-36 with just 38 seconds remaining. With nine seconds on the clock, Torre sunk a three-pointer to bring the Lions within three points as the teams headed into the break.
Early in the second half
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.), Jules de Courtenay (Brisbane, Australia), and
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) exchanged jumpers, taking Molloy to within one point of the Spartans. A made free throw from Guzzardi tied the contest at 41. For ten minutes the teams battled, neither being able to go ahead by more than four points. Eventually, STAC managed to break out a nine-point run to go up 64-54 with 6:19 on the game clock. Marquardt nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven points. Watler sunk a jumper to try to get another run started for the Spartans, but Morris immediately answered back with a thunderous slam dunk, keeping the deficit to only seven points.
Six points from Marquardt coupled with a pair of foul shots from Torre put Molloy to within two points of the Spartans with 17 seconds remaining. A necessary foul brought Reyes to the line, where he made one of his two shots to give STAC the 71-68 edge with 14 seconds on the clock. Unable to find an open shooter, Corbett pushed his way into the box for a layup to bring Molloy within one with six seconds left. The Lions, needing the ball back, had no choice but to once again send Reyes to the line. The forward made the first shot, sending the score to 72-70 Spartans, but missed the second. Marquardt leapt up to grab the board, but the Lions were unable to score before time expired.
Molloy once again excelled from the charity stripe, missing only two foul shots in the game for a free throw percentage of 89.5. Marquardt topped all scorers totaling 25 points, going 8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and sinking all four of his foul shot attempts. Corbett and Torre each finished with 11 points for the Lions; Torre just missed out on a double-double, pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. Rounding out the top scorers for Molloy was Morris, who posted 10 points in the loss. For the Spartans, Jonathan Lawton (Williamstown, N.J.) finished with a team-high 21 points, while Reyes posted 19 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
The Lions step out of conference action as they welcome Southern Connecticut State University to Quealy Gymnasium on Monday (Dec. 5). The game is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.
