Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 17, 2016) - A spirited second-half rally by the Molloy College men's basketball team fell just short of the mark, as Queens College escaped Quealy Gymnasium with an 84-81 victory over the Lions on Tuesday (Feb. 16). Junior guard
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) had a chance to give the maroon and white a lead with five seconds to go on what would have been his seventh three-pointer of the evening, but the shot---which swished through the hoop and sent the Lions' Den into a frenzy at first---did not count, as the sharpshooter was called for a traveling violation before releasing the ball.
Molloy (7-17, 5-11 ECC) fell behind early in the contest as Queens (9-12, 7-9 ECC) set an untouchable pace in the game's first six minutes. After Marquardt traded three-balls with Travis Whitfield (Baldwin, N.Y.), the Knights scored 18 unanswered points, taking advantage of five missed shots and five turnovers by the Lions to grab a 21-3 lead on a lay-up by Mohamed Dansoko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at the 14:21 mark of the first half. With plenty of time until the break, the home side kicked into gear and tried to awaken the subdued crowd. Back-to-back trifectas from Marquardt brought Molloy within six at 28-22 with 8:50 remaining in the half, and the junior got his side as close as two points about a minute-and-a-half later. Queens went on an 8-0 run, spurred by threes from Whitfield and Tyree White (Brooklyn, N.Y.), to keep Molloy at bay and the Knights would continue to shoot emphatically well from the field. As the teams went into the break, Queens led 53-42 on account of the Knights' 70.8% (17-24) performance from the field and 70% (7-10) effort from downtown coupled with a perfect free-throw ratio of 12-for-12.
Things started to change in the second half as senior guard
Maurice Gatson (New York, N.Y.) opened scoring with a jumper in the first minute to bring Molloy within nine points at 53-44. The deficit stayed at single digits for the entirety of the second half, with senior forward
Kevin Bowles (Wantagh, N.Y.) hitting a fast-break lay-up to get Molloy to within four at 61-57 with 13 minutes to go. Though the hosts chipped away at the lead consistently, Queens continued to keep the Lions far enough from the lead until there were just 13 seconds to play in the contest. Bowles hit a lay-up off a missed three by Marquardt, and White lost his footing on the ensuing in-bounds play. Molloy, with 11 seconds left, put the ball in the hands of its best shooter, but defensive pressure from the Knights forced Marquardt to double-clutch and release the ball off of a third step. As the ball sailed into the lights of Quealy Gymnasium and made its dramatic arc downward and through the basket, the packed arena crowd seemed to forget that the referee had blown his whistle and signaled that Marquardt took too many paces without dribbling; thus, the Knights prevailed.
Marquardt had a team-high 24 points on a night in which he shot 7-for-14 (50%) from the field and 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three-point range. The junior also had a team-high seven rebounds in the effort. Senior guard
Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.) had 22 points and eight assists while Bowles added 10 points and five boards. Freshman guard
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) contributed 12 points off the bench while Gatson collected eight, as well. Molloy shot 45.6% (26-57) from the field and 40.7% (11-27) from three-point range, while winning a low (28-27) rebounding game.
For Queens, Diego Maldonado (Valley Stream, N.Y.) had the high point total with 26 while Whitfield added 18. White nearly collected a quadruple-double (16 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, six steals) and went 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Dansoko scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds, and Kyheim Chaplin (Freeport, N.Y.) added eight points.
Molloy will next host the University of Bridgeport on Thursday (Feb. 18) in a 7:30 p.m. showcase at Quealy Gymnasium.
