Men's Basketball Drops 72-68 Nailbiter to Molloy
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 18, 2017) - Despite erasing a 15-point deficit, the LIU Post men's basketball team fell to Molloy College, 72-68, in East Coast Conference action Wednesday at the Pratt Recreation Center.
Down 26-12 midway through the first half, the Pioneers (5-13, 4-5 ECC) went on an 11-4 run in a span of 3:45 to close the gap to 30-23 with 6:22 left. Red-shirt junior guard
Aary Bibens (Bennington, Vt.) and freshman forward
Kyle Doucette (Lynn, Mass.) ignited the spurt with back-to-back lay-ups. Senior guard
Jemal Mosley (Nanuet, N.Y.) capped it off with a trey.
Shortly thereafter, the green and gold made it a one-possession game (34-31), after Mosley hit his last of three trifectas in the opening stanza at the 4:21 mark.
However, the Lions (10-8, 6-3 ECC), who were held without a field goal for the last 6:43 of the period, eventually brought a five-point cushion (40-35) into the break.
In the latter half, LIU Post trailed 42-37 nearly two minutes into the session, until a quick 6-0 spurt gave the Pioneers their first lead of the contest at 43-42 with 17:13 to go. Senior forward
Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) put the hosts ahead with a pair of free throws. Senior guard
Jared Hall (South Orange, N.J.) contributed a fast-break one-handed dunk.
From there, the two squads exchanged four leads, before Molloy's Josh Dennis (Valley Stream, N.Y.) scored four straight points to stake the Lions to a five-point advantage (63-58) with 1:34 remaining in regulation.
The Pioneers would not go away though. Mosley drained three free-throw attempts in the final minute, which trimmed the deficit to 70-68 at the 41-second mark.
The green and gold then drew an offensive foul to set up a potential game-tying shot. With the seconds winding down, Hall was stripped of the ball by Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) to end the game.
Dotson tallied a game-high 18 points in the loss. He shot 5-of-6 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 at the stripe. Mosley collected 14 points and four rebounds. Bibens had nine points, seven rebounds and two assists. Doucette and junior guard
Kyle McLeggan (Jersey City, N.J.) poured in seven points apiece. Doucette also grabbed five rebounds and added two blocks.
For the contest, LIU Post shot 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the floor, including an 11-of-21 clip (52.4 percent) in the second half. They were also a near-flawless 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) at the foul line.
Head Coach
Erik Smiles and the Pioneers return to the hardwood Saturday (Jan. 21), when they host Saint Anselm College in their annual Coaches vs. Cancer game at the Pratt Recreation Center. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.