Washington, D.C. (Dec. 2, 2017) – The Molloy men's basketball team began East Coast Conference play with a three-point win in double overtime over the University of the District of Columbia, 93-90. The win, the squad's second of the year, sets the Lions at 2-6 on the year.
Six members of the maroon and white finished in double-digits led by 21 from sophomore
Nick Corbett and 18 from junior
Mike Torre. Freshman
Steven Torre added 13 while junior
Chris O'Reilly tallied 11. Sophomore
Josh Dennis and redshirt freshman
Justin Caldwell each added 10. Caldwell also pulled down 14 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Molloy shot 43.8% from the field on the performance (32-of-73), edging the Firebirds in second chance points (15), bench points (44), points off turnovers (19), and points in the paint (40).
With four minutes left in regulation,
Mike Torre sunk two foul shots to put Molloy up, 65-64. UDC's Paul Eromosele responded with a layup, giving the home team a one-point advantage. One minute later, Molloy was once again sent to the line as O'Reilly gave the Lions a 67-66 lead. Corbett added a layup to increase the lead to three. The Firebirds took a one-point lead, 70-69, with 30 seconds to play before Torre scored with 14 seconds on the clock to set the score at 71-70. With five seconds remaining in regulation, UDC went to the line, needing two points to secure the victory. The Firebirds sunk the first shot, but missed the second, and the clock expired with the score knotted, sending the team's to overtime.
The Lions went up by six, 78-72, early into the overtime period but UDC combined for a six-point run to knot the score yet again. Caldwell added three points in the final 50 seconds of play to put Molloy ahead, but once again UDC tied the game in the final seconds forcing a second five minutes of overtime.
This time, the home team went in front first, 86-81, before a triple from Corbett and layup from
Steven Torre evened the game with 2:30 remaining. The Firebirds would take another lead but Corbett sunk a trey with under a minute to play to set the score at 90-90. Molloy took a one-point lead following a foul shot from Torre before Dennis secured the 93-90 victory with a layup in the game's final seconds.
Molloy returns to action on Wednesday as the Lions take on East Stroudsburg University at 7:00 p.m. in Quealy Gymnasium.
