BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team dropped a 61-51 decision to Juniata College on Saturday afternoon in Landmark Conference action.
The loss puts the Greyhounds (10-11, 5-6) a game under .500 in both overall record and the Landmark Conference with four games remaining, three of which are conference matchups. Juniata improved to 13-8 and 4-6 in Landmark.
Junior point guard Izel Dickerson scored a team-high 13 points and added a career-high six rebounds in the Saturday setback, while senior center Cameron Cullen netted 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (4-of-5 free throws). Senior guard Kenny Gula also tossed in 12 points.
Senior center Blake English got the Hounds on the board with a three-pointer for an early 3-1 lead, but it was the last time Moravian would hold an advantage on the scoreboard as Juniata went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead.
Both teams went cold from the floor as the Greyhounds suffered a five-minute streak without a field goal, and no baskets were made by either team for over three minutes.
A Dickerson trey got the score to 12-11 in the Eagles' favor, but Juniata responded with another 6-0 spurt with 4:44 remaining in the half.
The Greyhounds scored a season-low 18 points in the first half as Juniata took the 29-18 lead into the break.
Juniata came out firing in the second half on the back of an 11-2 run. With 15 minutes to play, the Eagles had their largest lead of the game at 42-22.
Dickerson cut the Juniata lead to single digits with a driving layup with 2:54 to play, and a three-point play by Gula set the Eagles' advantage at 56-49.
The Eagles were shaky down the stretch from the charity stripe as Moravian was forced to foul while trailing and time winding down. Juniata made 3-of-7 free throws down the stretch, but managed to come away with the 61-51 victory.
Moravian, despite the loss, came away with a few statistical victories on Saturday. The Greyhounds outscored the Eagles in the paint, 30-22, while also holding an advantage in points off turnovers, 15-7. Moravian only committed 11 turnovers in the loss.
Four offensive rebounds from Cullen and three from Dickerson helped the Hounds score 13 second-chance points, compared the Juniata's nine, while Moravian held a slight edge in rebounding, 32-31.
