ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Jan. 7, 2017) - The men's basketball team earned their first win of 2017 in a 107-89 victory over the Purple Knights of the University of Bridgeport. Leading the way were seniors
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) and
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) posting 26 and 18 points, respectively. Sophomore
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) finished with 22 points, going 7-of-9 from the field while also going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. The guard also brought down a game-high nine rebounds and four steals.
Molloy came out of the gate firing, going up 7-2 through the first few minutes of the game. Shortly after, Bridgeport came back to tie the game at 11 following a three-pointer by Carlos DeJesus (Bronx, N.Y.) and a layup by Sam Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 14:44 remaining in the half.
An 11-0 run catapulted the Lions into the lead, a lead they would hold for the remainder of the contest. In the first half, the maroon and white soared ahead by as much as 26 points. The first half ended with Molloy on top 57-38.
The second half saw more of the same with Molloy keeping its lead in double digits the whole second half. A jump shot by
Nick Corbett (Staten Island, N.Y.) and a Morris layup brought the lead back to 20 points early in the second. However, the Purple Knights kept fighting, and cut the lead 94-82. The Lions ended the game going 9-of-14 from the foul line to pick up the 107-89 victory.
Molloy shot an amazing 56.7% while holding Bridgeport to just 38.2% from the field. The Lions also capitalized on the mistakes of the Purple Knights, owning a 21-11 advantage in points off turnovers. The 18-point victory is their second largest margin of the season and the third time the Lions have topped 100 points in a single contest. The maroon and white improve to 8-7 on the season and 4-2 in East Coast Conference play while Bridgeport fell to 7-8 (3-3 ECC) with the loss.
Molloy will travel to Washington D.C. to face the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7:00 p.m.
