Season-High Ten Players Score as Men's Basketball Faces ECC Rival Molloy
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 8, 2014) – Ten Mavericks scored for the fourth time this season but the all-around team effort was not enough as the Mercy College men's basketball team fell to East Coast Conference rival Molloy College, 94-72, on Wednesday night.
Mercy falls to 1-11 overall and 1-5 in the ECC while Molloy improves to 6-7 (4-2).
Senior Olajide Keshinro (Brooklyn, N.Y. / SUNY Cobleskill) got things started with a backdoor layup on a crisp pass from sophomore Nate Stitchell (Coventry, R.I. / Coventry), but Molloy would score the next six points to take a 6-2 lead with two minutes elapsed. Stitchell hit a three-pointer to pull within one, and soon after the Mavericks' senior tandem of Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y. / St. Mary's) and LeBrandon Smith (Jamaica, N.Y. / Archbishop Molloy), who had missed the last game with a minor injury, traded baskets with the Lions as each hit consecutive jumpers to take leads at 11-10, 13-12 and 15-14.
ECC Preseason Player of the Year and leading scorer John Petrucelli drew a foul and hit one of two free throws to tie it up at 15-15, but senior P.J. Walters (Hempstead, N.Y. / Wheaton College) responded with a jumper to regain the lead.
Molloy took control of things from there, scoring 10 unanswered points over the next two minutes to lead 25-17. Senior Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y. / St. Mary's) nailed a three-pointer late in the half to trim the margin back to four, but the Lions would extend the lead to 43-28 heading into halftime.
The Lions continued to build on their lead, going up by as many as 30 points at 74-44 with 10:18 remaining in the game and went on to the victory.
Walters led the Mavericks with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 19 minutes while Bailey also scored in double figures with 10 points in 22 minutes. Keshinro grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots while Stitchell dished out six assists and came up with three steals. Junior Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y. / H. Frank Carey) returned from nearly a two-month injury layoff to play six minutes and hit his only attempt of the night, a three-pointer.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks will host ECC rival Queens College (0-12, 0-6) on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2:30 p.m.
