Molloy upsets Xaverians home
BROOKLYN, NY - Veteran talent evaluator Tom Konchalski says that Tuesday afternoon games are usually upsets. His words were prophetic as unranked Archbishop Molloy walked into Clippers' gym and walked out with a 49-47 win. NYCHoops.net #7 ranked Xaverian got clipped as the result of the 16th, 17th and 18th point by Stanners' guard C.J. Davis late in the fourth quarter.
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The game was a snoozer early on as both team ran their sets and exchanged buckets. 6'5" senior Shakeel Kemp (9 points) did the dirty work in the paint for Xaverian while 6'4" Morrell Gaskins (14 points) was his counterpart for Molloy. 6'5" junior Marko Kozul (12 points) and Davis would give the Stanners a three point advantage late in the opening quarter but SMU bound Brian Bernardi (14 points) would explode down the lane to close the gap as the buzzer sounded.
With Xaverian down a point to start the second quarter things began to heat up. Bernardi would score an and-1 at the 7:41 mark to put the Clippers up by two. It looked as if the seesaw was going to continue as a trey by senior point guard Christian Giles (3 points) would once again put Molloy back in the driver's seat but instead it sparked an 8-0 run as Kozul drained a three plus a deuce.
Point guard Dillon Burns (9 points) would stop the bleeding for Clippers but they were now down 22-18. Xaverian tried to make a run but a three by Davis kept the Stanners ahead by 6 with 4:12 left in the half.
As the Clippers fought, Kemp would put his defensive skills on full display. First the senior blocked Davis attempting a three-ball in the right corner and then ran full throttle to the left corner where he promptly blocked sharpshooter Brian Kruger attempting to take a three. Kemp even managed to grab the subsequent rebound but it would be all for nothing. Xaverian was unable to turn that possession into a bucket and found themselves down 29-19 at the half.
To start the third, the Clippers came out fired up and went on a 7-0 run cutting their deficit to three points as Stan Peacock (3 points) and George Lambert (7 points) struck gold. Molloy responded with a 9-0 run to re-extend their lead. Xaverian was resilient as Burns and Lambert once again reduced Molloy's lead to 37-35 to end the third.
Throughout most of the fourth quarter, Xaverian continued to knock on Molloy's door. With 19.4 seconds remaining, Bernardi would finally knock the door down with a trifecta, giving the Clippers a 47-46 lead but seconds later, Davis would counter and regain a one point Molloy advantage.
Bernardi would fire off another shot but this time it fell short and with 3.9 seconds left, the Clippers were forced to foul. Davis would shoot 1 for 2 from the line but Xaverian would turn the ball over onthe inbound pass. Game, set, match.
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