Rockville Centre, N.Y. – The men's basketball team dropped its fourth consecutive contest Wednesday evening, falling 82-78 to the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans inside Quealy Gymnasium. The Lions fall to 7-15 (6-7 ECC), while STAC improves to 18-4 (11-1 ECC) with the win.
 
How it Happened

• Freshman Kenny Lazo, junior Frankie Phelan, and junior William Muller combined to score the first eight points of the contest. Molloy led, 8-4, three minutes into the game.
• The road team responded with a 11-0 scoring run, securing its first lead of the contest, 15-8, with over 14 minutes to play.
• With 9:33 to go, freshman Sey Dieng nailed a corner three to shrink the deficit to four, 19-15.
• Consecutive three's from freshman Darren Fergus and junior Steven Torre brought the Lions within two, 25-23, with under six minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
• The Spartans responded with a 9-0 run in the next 1:30, to open its lead to 11, 34-23, with 4:13 left on the scoreboard.
• A three-point play from Torre shrunk the STAC lead to four, 34-30, with under two minutes to go.
• Molloy trailed 37-30 heading into the half.
• Coming out of the locker room, the two teams traded baskets. St. Thomas Aquinas held a six point advantage, 45-39, with 16:38 to play.
• Over the next five minutes of game time, the Spartans regained its double-digit lead, 58-47, following a jump shot from guard Demetre Roberts.
• Molloy battled back, cutting the deficit to three, 68-65, following a jumper by Lazo with 6:07 remaining.
• STAC responded with a mini 5-0 run to give them an eight point cushion, 73-65, with over four minutes to go.
• The maroon and white answered with a run of its own. Putting together an 8-2 run highlighted by five points from Muller. The Lions trailed 75-73 with 1:33 left on the scoreboard.
• Back-to-back layups from Lazo and Fergus kept the deficit at two, 80-78, with eight seconds remaining. 
• The Spartans hit two foul shots with seven seconds left to seal the 82-78 victory.

Top Performances

• For the second straight game, Fergus tallied a career-high 28 points, shot 66 percent from three, and 61 percent from the field.
• Torre netted 14 points and brought down five rebounds.
• Muller scored 12 points and led the lions with seven rebounds.
• Phelan stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds, and a game-high three steals.
• Lazo put together a final line score of seven points and dished out six assists, tying a game-high.

 
Up Next
Molloy begins a three-game road trip Saturday (Feb. 12) as they head to Dobbs Ferry to take on Mercy. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.