Quealy Gym is the place to be Saturday afternoon if you are a fan of East Coast Conference basketball. The Molloy Lions,7-9 in ECC, host the NYIT Bears,6-10 in ECC, in a game that determines who gets the sixth and final spot in the ECC tournament and once you are in the tournament anything can happen on the road to the NCAA DII tournament.
The Lions and the Bears have met twice this season and have split the first two meetings. The first meeting the Bears won 65-53. This was a game they led for its entirety. Molloy trailed by as many as nine early in the second half . They would come back and tie it at 47, with just over eight minutes remaining when senior Caitlin Wheeler hit a three .But NYIT would break away with 13-2 run to end the game and pick up the victory . The Bears’ Cierra Baker, who leads the ECC in rebounding ,was the high scorer with 18 points and 14 rebounds . Ashley Addison led the Lions with 12 points.
The second meeting saw Molloy winning 77-60. Molloy led by 14 in the second half. NYIT would answer with a 13-0 run to cut the Molloy led to one. Molloy would go on an 11-0 run to open up their lead to 72-55 and hold on to win. Christina Marra had a game high 17 points. Marra felt her team played a better game the second time around, “In the second meeting against NYIT,I feel that our team was more prepared and hyped to play. We were hitting shots and we had momentum going our way and refused to take another defeat to them.” Cierra Baker and Rebecca Lynch led NYIT with 15 points.
In the meeting tomorrow there are some key points to watch out for. The first is the battle between two of the best forwards in the league, Delmara Reece and Cierra Baker . Reece is second in the ECC in rebounding and has nine double-doubles this season. Baker leads the ECC in rebounding and has 16 double-doubles on the year. This game features two great players in the post and the two of them battling it out should be fun to watch.
The next key for the Lions is they need to get off to a fast start. In the Lions past three games they have started extremely slow and find themselves in double-digit holes early which have hurt them. “We all have to come ready to play. In the last three games we have suffered huge losses in the first half and usually plain even the second. We can't do that or else we will lose. We have to play a complete game, start to finish, in order for us to be successful.” Senior forward Caitlin Wheeler said. Wheeler is three blocks away from breaking her own single-season blocks record.
Like Wheeler , Coach Tim O’Hagan thinks if the Lions play a complete game they should be fine, “Need to come in with energy withstand the charge of NYIT. Run our sets and play defense.” Coach O’Hagan said.
If the Lions win they have the talent to make a run at the ECC Title despite their tough season . They have experience players who have had success in post season play .
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