By Nick Mazzarella – STAFF WRITER
Five Hofstra players scored in double figures, and the Pride (2-0) cruised to a 96-64 win over the Division II Molloy Lions on Monday night at the Mack Sports Complex.
Juan’ya Green and Ameen Tanksley led all scorers with 17 points each, and Malik Nichols poured in a career-high 16 points. Rokas Gustys recorded his second double-double in as many games and, in the process, pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds.
“I think you have to give a lot of credit to Molloy,” said head coach Joe Mihalich. “They were scrappy, they were fired up, they were inspired.”
Molloy struck first thanks to a Curtis Jenkins jumper just inside the arc, but Hofstra went on an 11-2 run to take a seven-point lead at the first media timeout.
The Lions responded, cutting their deficit to 13-12 after Jaylen Morris’s second straight lay-up. But Hofstra’s lead grew back to seven after the Pride scored six unanswered.
A Green three at the 7:26 mark gave the Pride an eight-point lead, but Morris answered with a three of his own on the other end. Charlie Marquardt’s lay-up then cut Hofstra’s lead to one possession, 24-21.
The Lions stuck around for the entire half and took their first timeout with 1:17 remaining. Green’s corner three out of that break were the last points of the opening 20 minutes, and the Pride took a 37-29 lead into halftime.
“Molloy had a lot of firepower in that first half,” said Mihalich. “I have a lot of respect for how they played in the first half.”
After the teams exchanged buckets to start the second half, an 11-0 run gave Hofstra a 50-31 lead before Brandon Williams ended Molloy’s drought with his second three of the game.
At the 11:35 mark, Nichols found Brian Bernardi for an easy two, which gave the Pride a 21-point lead before Molloy called a timeout. But the break didn’t help the Lions, who saw their deficit grow to 29 before the under-eight media timeout, 73-47.
From the 6:46 to 4:41 mark, the teams combined for six threes – four for Molloy and two for Hofstra – but the Lions still found themselves down 23 at that point.
Hofstra’s lead reached 30 for the first time with 3:20 left in the game, and the final margin was 32 as the Pride sealed an easy win over Molloy.
“The second half, I felt like we played the game the right way,” said Mihalich, whose team outscored its opponent 59-35 in the last 20 minutes.
The Pride are next in action this Friday, Nov. 20, when they travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands to take on Florida State at 3:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Paradise Jam.
