BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team defeated Lebanon Valley College, 79-65, Sunday afternoon. The game was close throughout, but a late 12-0 run in the second half from the Greyhounds gave them a commanding lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Moravian would get on the board first after a deep three-pointer from junior guard Kenny Gula. Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn followed up a layup from junior forward Joey Giangiobbe with a three-pointer of his own for a 6-2 lead one minute in. Sophomore guard Kevin Agnew knotted the game at six for the Flying Dutchmen three minutes in. Senior forward Aaron Thieme would get the steal on the next possession and finish with a layup for an 8-6 lead.
Junior center Blake English drove to the hole to make the layup while getting fouled. He converted the free throw to make the score 19-12, Moravian seven minutes into the contest. Senior forward Danny Brooks made the score 19-15 after a tough layup for LVC. Brooks then blocked a shot while getting his own rebound then pulling up for the jumper at the top of the key to make the score 19-17, Moravian with 11 minutes to play.
After a steal from Johnson, Gula finished at the other end with an easy layup for a 23-19 lead with eight minutes left in the half. The Flying Dutchmen took the lead back with 5:30 left in the first half after a three from the corner by senior guard Matt O'Brien. English came back at the other with a slam dunk to give Moravian the lead back at 27-26. Agnew then hit a three-pointer, but English answered with a three-pointer of his own to make the score 30-29, Greyhounds with four minutes left in the half.
After a layup from junior center Cameron Cullen, junior guard Ryan Kinard responded with a three to knot the contest at 32. Back-to-back layups from Cullen and sophomore guard Izel Dickerson handed the Hounds a 36-32 lead with two minutes left in the half. Moravian ended the first half with a one point lead at 38-37.
The Greyhounds shot 55-percent from the field while the Flying Dutchmen shot 57-percent from the field in the first half. Lebanon Valley tallied three more rebounds and two more turnovers over the first 20 minutes. English led Moravian with ten points, two rebounds and a block while Agnew led LVC with ten points and three assists in the first half.
Agnew would get the first points of the second half, but Gula answered with a deep three-pointer to make the score 41-39 one minute in. Johnson then threaded his way through the defense for the layup for a 43-39 lead. Agnew added a three of his own to cut the Hounds lead to one point three minutes in.
A breakaway layup by O'Brien gave the Flying Dutchmen the lead back at 46-45 five minutes in. Thieme followed it up with a three to regain the lead, and Brooks made the layup to knot the contest at 48, six minutes into the second half.
A steal from Dickerson led to points by Johnson to put Moravian up 54-52 with 11:29 remaining in the contest. After LVC tied the contest at 54, Gula nailed another three-pointer for the 57-54 lead with nine minutes left in the game. A turnaround hook shot from Cullen, and a three-pointer from Gula put the Greyhounds up six at 62-56 with seven minutes left in the game. Johnson would get the steal, and drive to the hoop for the layup while drawing the foul. He converted the free throw to give Moravian a 69-58 lead with five minutes remaining in the second half.
A layup from Brooks for the LVC ended the Greyhounds 12-0 run to make the score 74-60, Moravian with 2:47 remaining in the game. Brooks then got the steal right after, and made another layup to make the score 74-62. That lead was too much for the Flying Dutchmen to handle as they fell, 79-65.
The Greyhounds finished with six players scoring in double figures. Thieme had a career-high 13 points and nine rebounds while Johnson put up 15 points, five boards, four assists and four steals. Gula went 4-for-6 from three-point range to score 14 points while Strayhorn had 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Cullen added ten points and nine rebounds while English had ten points and a block.
LVC was led by Brooks, who put up 22 points and eight boards while Agnew added 15 points and four assists. O'Briend had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists while Kinard hhad eight points and two assists.
The Greyhounds shot 48-percent from the field while the Flying Dutchmen shot 47-percent from the field. Moravian held a 35-25 rebounding advantage while Lebanon Valley committed one less turnover.
Moravian returns to action on Saturday, December 1st as they open up the Landmark Conference schedule versus Juniata College. It's Parent's Day for the Greyhounds as the contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.
