CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The No. 7 seed Moravian College men's basketball team fell to No. 2 seed DeSales University, 73-60, Wednesday evening in the ECAC Division III South Championship Quarterfinals. Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn finished with 20 points and six assists for the Greyhounds.
Senior forward Brett Moyer would score the first point of the game for DeSales. Sophomore guard Izel Dickerson netted the first bucket for Moravian off a layup. Dickerson then added a three from the corner for the 6-3 lead three minutes in.
Moyer hit a layup, but the Greyhounds responded with a 5-0 run off a lay-in by junior center Cameron Cullen and a three by Dickerson for the 11-5 lead four minutes in. Freshman forward Cody Deal hit a three-pointer for the Bulldogs, but senior guard Garrett Johnson put Moravian up 13-8 six minutes in.
Back-to-back scores from junior guard Kyle Hash and senior center Greg Peters tied the contest up at 14 for DeSales with 11:39 to play in the half. Freshman forward Matt Bosch added a jumper and a free throw to put Moravian up 17-14. Moyer then drove to the hole while getting fouled. He converted the three-point play to tie the contest at 17 with 8:41 remaining in the half.
After trading scores, Strayhorn drilled a three-pointer for the 24-21 lead with six minutes to play in the half. Deal hit a three for DeSales two minutes later for the 26-24 lead. Moravian then went on an 8-0 run with points by Johnson, Strayhorn and Dickerson for the 32-26 lead. Hash hit a three to make the halftime score 32-29, Moravian.
The Greyhounds shot 37-percent from the field while the Bulldogs shot 33-percent from the field at the half. Moravian held the rebounding edge at 23-20 while committing two less turnovers. Dickerson led the Greyhounds with ten points at the half while Moyer had nine points and six rebounds for DeSales.
Cullen put up the first basket of the second half while junior forward Andrew Kohler answered with a layup for the Bulldogs. Cullen added a jumper for the 39-35 lead, but Moyer added back-to-back layups to knot the contest at 39 four minutes into the second half.
A lay-in by Peters put the Bulldogs up, and a jumper by sophomore guard Ryan Griffin made the score 43-39, DeSales. A three by freshman guard Jarrod Dilts brought the Hounds within one at 43-42 with 13:29 remaining in the contest.
Back-to-back scores by Griffin put the Bulldogs up 47-42 eight minutes into the second half. Moyer and Hash added to the DeSales lead with layups to put the score at 51-42 with ten minutes remaining.
Senior forward Aaron Thieme ended the Bulldogs run with a tip-in and a follow up free throw to put the score at 59-45, DeSales with seven minutes to play. After free throws by Hash, Strayhorn hit a layup while getting fouled. He converted the three-point play to put the score at 61-48 with six minutes to play.
Junior guard Paul Pammer added two scores before a Griffin layup to put the Bulldogs up 67-48 with 4:17 left in the game. Strayhorn hit a three-pointer to end DeSales run. After trading scores, Dickerson hit another three to make the score 71-56, DeSales with three minutes left in the contest. Strayhorn added a mid-range jumper to put the contest at 71-58. The Greyhounds wouldn't get any closer as DeSales went onto win 73-60.
Dickerson finished with 13 points and two steals while Cullen tallied his fifth double-double off of ten points and ten rebounds.
Moyer led the Bulldogs with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Hash had 11 points and seven boards. Griffin and Peters both finished with eight points.
Moravian shot 37-percent from the field while DeSales shot 45-percent from the field for the game. The Bulldogs held the edge in rebounds at 44-35 while the Greyhounds committed one less turnover.
