Pope and Senior Combine for 47 Points as Men's Basketball Triumphs Over Molloy for Crucial ECC Win, 72-63
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 1, 2012) – Playing amongst a sold-out Mercy Gymnasium crowd and an uproarious and energetic audience, the Mercy College men's basketball squad defeated East Coast Conference-opponent Molloy College, 72-63, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. on Wednesday evening. Junior guard Colin Senior (Hackensack, N.J.) poured in 24 points, while junior forward Joseph Pope (Akron, Ohio) racked up 23 points to help propel the Mavericks past the Lions.
After a successful Molloy (6-14, 3-7 ECC) free throw with 6:18 remaining in the first half, the game was knotted at 23-all. The Mavericks (3-17, 2-8 ECC) answered back quickly as they rattled off seven straight points to take a 30-23 lead into halftime. Senior netted three of those seven points.
Mercy continued playing great basketball as it reached its high-water mark of the contest with 14:47 left in the second stanza. Following a lay-up from Senior, Mercy held a 15-point advantage over Molloy.
The Lions spat out a 10-2 run, which included six points from junior guard Jimmy Nolan (Plantation, Fla.) – four of which came off free throws after a pair of Mercy technical fouls. Just like that, Molloy had cut its deficit down to 45-40.
Pope and Senior put in back-to-back lay-ups to increase the Mavericks' lead to nine, but the Lions were converting on nearly all free throws. After a clutch three-pointer by Nolan and a three-point play by senior center Dariel Concha (Valley Stream, N.Y.), the contest was tied at 49-49 (7:42 left).
Over the subsequent four minutes, Mercy knocked out a 13-3 run, which helped fuel the hosts to the end for the victory. Down the stretch, the Mavericks played calm, confident and precision basketball as they went on to lockdown the 72-63 win over Molloy.
For Mercy, besides Pope's and Senior's heroics, sophomore forward Jordan Lee (Englewood, N.J.) added eight points. Pope recorded the double-double with 10 rebounds. Mercy shot 45.5% from field goal range.
For the Lions, Nolan netted 17 points, while Concha had 13. Rookie guard Matt McLeod (Greenlawn, N.Y.) added 10.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks return to action on Saturday, Feb. 4 when they host New York Institute of Technology. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. Following the women's game at 1:00 p.m., Basketball Alumni Day will be in full swing as the alumni game gets underway at 3:00 p.m., which will be followed by a reception.
