CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team believed they were better than its 1-3 record indicated, and they were forced to prove it in a hostile DeSales University environment on Tuesday night in one of the most high-pressured situations on the court: the free throw line.
The Greyhounds shot 87 percent (20-23) from the charity stripe in the second half, including a 9-9 mark from junior point guard Izel Dickerson, to defeat the Bulldogs 77-72 and improve to 2-3 on the season.
"I've seen what we can do," said Dickerson, who scored 26 points on 8-15 shooting. "I know what we're capable of. I believe, and my teammates believe we can be better and it's about time we bought in to that belief."
Dickerson did most of his damage from the floor in the first half, scoring 15 points in a back-and-forth opening period that saw four tie scores and two lead changes. It was his three-point play with less than three minutes remaining in the game that had the biggest impact.
With 2:47 left and the Hounds clinging to a slim 62-61 lead, Dickerson grabbed a defensive rebound and led a one-man fast break. He sunk his layup despite being fouled, and completed the three-point play from the line, one of his nine made free throws in the second half.
"We got a little cushion," Dickerson said. "That's always nice in a competitive game like this one. It creates less pressure on the free throws, so I would say that was a big play in the game because it also stopped one of their runs."
In the final three minutes of the game, the Greyhounds went 15-17 from the free throw line.
"This game is very different if we don't make those free throws," head coach Jim Walker said. "I expected to be a good free throw shooting team. We always expect that at Moravian. We shoot only five a day per person in a free throw drill, and the guys don't want to miss them because there's a penalty for a miss. They begin to concentrate on those shots and I've started to notice a difference lately."
Senior center Blake English excelled on both ends of the court on Tuesday night against DeSales (3-2). He scored 16 points, including a booming dunk in the second half, and helped swing the momentum in the second period with one of his two blocks. English turned the ball over near his offensive three-point arc, but he chased the thieving Bulldog down and stuffed the fast break layup attempt into the glass.
DeSales was up 55-54 during that play, and the English block led to a layup from sophomore forward Matt Bosch (nine points, five rebounds) to give the Greyhounds a 56-55 advantage.
Freshman guard Isaiah Jennings had the best game of his young rookie season, notching season-bests in points (11), rebounds (7), assists (3) and blocks (1).
"That was his best game, and I believe we'll see even better games from him in the near future," Walker said. "That's why I went right back to him off the bench late in the game. He showed he belongs on the court."
Moravian shot 53 percent from the floor and held a slight advantage in rebounds, 30-29, against the Bulldogs, who only shot 39 percent. DeSales got 35 bench points compared to Moravian's 11, but the Greyhounds fell back on winning the battle in the paint, 34-24.
Senior center Cameron Cullen was a perfect 4-4 from the floor and 1-1 from the charity stripe for his nine points, and the big man added six rebounds and two blocks.
The Greyhounds return to action on Sunday, Dec. 1 for a non-conference game with Berkeley (N.J.) College in Johnston Hall at 3 p.m.
