BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 18, 2017) – The Molloy College men's basketball team hung on late to pick up a 72-68 win over LIU Post on Wednesday (Jan. 18). With the win, the team improves to 10-8 on the campaign and 6-3 in league play, while the Pioneers drop to 5-13 on the season and 4-5 in East Coast Conference play.
The Lions went ahead early, opening on a 13-7 run, led by six points from senior
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.). The lead would eventually extend to as much as 15 points as an 11-0 run from the maroon and white pushed the score to 24-9 with 12:08 left in the first half. LIU Post answered back with a 22-10 run of their own to cut the Lions' lead down to only three points with under five minutes to play in the opening frame. Molloy was sent to the foul line eight times in the final two minutes of the opening half. Marquardt,
Josh Dennis (Valley Stream, N.Y.),
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.), and
Nick Corbett (Staten Island, N.Y.) all sunk foul shots, helping to Molloy's 87.5% performance from the line on the night. The Pioneers landed a jumper in the final seconds to set the score at 40-35 at the half.
The Pioneers opened the second half on an 8-2 run, taking the 43-42 lead on a foul shot from Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.). The teams exchanged blows, trading the lead back and forth in the resulting minutes, until field goals from
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) and
Mike Torre (Massapequa, N.Y.) put Molloy up 56-49 with 10:30 on the clock. Dotson slammed a dunk to push LIU Post back ahead with 6:04 remaining, but a layup from
Mike Guzzardi (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) quickly put the Lions back ahead for the final time. Molloy ended the contest on a 12-9 run, with eight of the 12 points coming from the charity stripe.
Molloy was led by 17 points and four steals from Marquardt. The guard went a perfect 11-of-11 from the foul line, sending his season average to a conference-leading 87.9%. Marquardt also leads the ECC in points per game, with 21.2. Morris posted 15 points, going 6-of-9 from the floor while pulling down a team-high seven boards. Dotson led all scorers with 18 points for the Pioneers.
The Lions will continue play on the road as they head to Sparkill, N.Y. on Saturday (Jan. 21) to take on the Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas College at 3:00 p.m.
