ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 15, 2017) – Seniors
Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) and
Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) led the men's basketball team in their 88-80 win over New York Institute of Technology, posting 27 and 24 points, respectively. With the win, the squad improves to 14-10 on the season and 10-5 in East Coast Conference play while NYIT falls to 6-18 (4-12 ECC).
The Lions jumped out to an early lead, going up 14-5 in the opening six minutes of action. The Bears rallied with a 9-4 run to come within four points, but five consecutive points from senior
Mike Guzzardi (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and sophomore
Mike Torre (Massapequa, N.Y.) pushed the maroon and white back up by nine. The lead would increase to as much as 11 points as jumpers from sophomore
Curtis Jenkins (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and
Nick Corbett (Staten Island, N.Y.) set the score at 29-18 with just over seven minutes left to play in the half. NYIT would come within two points, but Marquardt ended the half with five points to send the teams into the break with the Lions on top 40-33.
In the second frame, NYIT opened to a 12-3 run, taking a 45-43 lead off a three-pointer from Henrik Davidsen (Oslo, Norway). The two teams would battle back and forth with neither obtaining much advantage until Walter King (Peekskill, N.Y.) hit a jumper to put the Bears ahead 55-50. The next 13 points, however, belonged to the maroon and white, featuring five from Marquardt to put the Lions up 63-55 with ten minutes on the clock. In the final two minutes of play, the Bears once again took a one point lead, but Marquardt scored nine of the squad's final 12 points to help seal the 88-80 win in favor of the home team.
Marquardt's 27 points came from a 7-for-15 day on the field, sinking 40% of his three-pointers and going 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Morris went 11-of-20 from the field and picked up a team-high eight rebounds in the effort. Corbett and Jenkins each nabbed three steals and totaled 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The men's basketball team will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 18) as they head to Amherst, N.Y. for a contest with the Wildcats of Daemen College at 3:00 p.m.
