Rockville Centre, N.Y. – The Molloy men's basketball stepped onto Bob Houlihan Court for the first time this season, putting together a thrilling back and forth contest against the Chargers of Dominican University Wednesday evening. The Lions fell, 89-85, moving to 0-3 on the campaign, while the Chargers improve to 3-0.
 
How it Happened

• The contest began with the teams' trading shots before the Chargers took a seven-point lead, 23-16, 7:44 into the contest.
• The Lions responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a three-point field goal from sophomore Sebastian Bosquez to push Molloy ahead, 27-25, midway through the first stanza.
• The game continued to stay within two possessions through the next six minutes of game time. With under five minutes to go in the first half, Chris Stokel drained a three in transition off a feed from junior Jared Weakly to knot the contest at 37.
• Dominican outscored the Lions 10-6 for the remainder of the first half to take a 47-43 lead into halftime.
• 5:39 into the second half, Dominican gained its largest lead of the evening, 66-56, after Chance Morrish hit a jumper.
• Over the next 1:48 of action the cardinal and white put together a 9-0 run. The run was highlighted by junior Bryce Merchant who netted eight points, shooting three-of-three from the field and foul line to get the Lions within one, 66-65.
• The contest would stay within one until 8:53 to play when sophomore Dylan Kopp drew a foul, sank a jumper, and converted a free throw to put the Lions back in front, 75-73.
• The road team answered with a run over the next five minutes, rallying to a 9-3 run on the back of seven points from the free-throw line to take a 82-77 advantage with under four minutes to go.
• After Kopp got the Lions back within one, 82-81, with four consecutive free throws, Merchant nailed a jump shot and converted a free throw to finish off a three-point play to give Molloy a two-point advantage, 84-82, with 2:22 remaining on the scoreboard.
• The Chargers ended the contest holding the Lions without a field goal and clinging to a 7-1 run, propelled by shooting seven-of-ten from the foul line en route to the victory, 89-85. 

Top Performances

• Merchant netted a career-high 30 points while shooting 60 percent from the floor and tying a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Kopp tied a career-high 20 points on the back of 71 percent shooting from the field and draining eight-of-nine free throws.
• Weakly made his presence on the defensive end of the floor, collecting 10 rebounds, five blocks, and three steals.
• Redshirt senior Seydina Mohamed Dieng clamped down, swiping a career-high six steals. 

Up Next
Molloy begins a two-game road trip in New Hampshire Saturday, November 22 as they travel to Manchester to face Saint Anselm at 1:00 p.m.