BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College senior forward Garrett Kashmer netted a career-high 16 points including the final four points of the contest for the Hounds to help lead the Greyhounds to a 78-76 overtime victory over visiting Penn State-Lehigh Valley in Johnston Hall Sunday afternoon.
Kashmer was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and hit his only three-point attempt in the contest, and he added three free throws, four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in the game. Sophomore forward Brandon McGuire also netted 16 points for Moravian with three boards while senior guard Izel Dickerson tossed in 13 points and added four rebounds.
"That might have been the best game of Garrett's career," stated Head Coach Jim Walker. "We had a meeting last night and talked about his leadership as a captain. He is trying to be that leader but sometimes he doesn't play great and being the leader is hard when you're not playing well. Today he had a great game and great leadership combined. That was probably the most minutes he has played but he was really contributing and deserved those minutes."
Junior forward Ryan O'Neil pulled down a game and career-high nine rebounds for the Greyhounds to go along with eight points and three assists while sophomore guard Isaiah Jennings and freshman guard Jack Aussenheimer each scored seven points. Jennings added three rebounds and three steals in the victory while Aussenheimer had a career-best four steals.
"Ryan was inching along at being a better player all along," Walker said. "Don't forget that he hasn't played for two years before transferring to us this year. The freshmen that are playing have had more recent experience from high school but he is a little older, and we knew he was a good player and that has really started to show over the past three or four games."
Freshman guard Matt Cardonne contributed six points for the Hounds, who won their second straight contest.
Moravian opened the scoring with baskets from Dickerson and McGuire, and a three-point play by Jennings had the Hounds ahead 9-2 just 3:19 into the contest. The Lions fought back and tied the game at 11-11, and would pull ahead 14-13 with 11:57 left in the first half. Moravian answered back with an 8-0 run as a three-pointer by Aussenheimer put the Greyhounds ahead 21-14 just 1:09 later after a three-pointer by Cardonne and a lay-up from Kashmer.
The Hounds pushed their lead to eight points on seven occasions over the next six minutes, the final time at 35-27 with 3:18 to go. However, Penn State-Lehigh Valley scored nine of the final 10 points of the half as the squads headed to the locker room tied at 36-36.
The Lions opened the scoring after the break before a three-point play by McGuire put the Hounds in front, 39-38. The game would go back-and-forth for the next eight minutes before Kashmer's second three-pointer of the season put Moravian ahead 54-50 with 9:26 to play.
Kashmer helped make the lead five points, 61-56, with 5:18 to play on a pair of free throws, and Moravian was ahead 67-62 after a free throw by Dickerson with 3:05 on the clock. Jennings gave the Hounds a 71-67 lead with 1:51 to play with shot at the charity stripe but the Greyhounds were scoreless for the rest of regulation as the Lions tied the game at 71-71 with 1:21 to go. Penn State-Lehigh Valley had a final, last-second three-point shot that missed and sent the teams to an extra five minutes of action.
The Lions took the early lead in the overtime before Aussenhemier gave Moravian a 74-73 lead with a driving lay-up. Kashmer would push the advantage to 76-73 with a lay-up with 2:30 to play, and Kashmer snapped a 76-76 tie with another lay-up with 1:08 on the clock. The Lions thought they had tied the game for a second overtime but the shot was ruled to have come after the clock expired to end the game.
"I was excited for (Penn State-Lehigh Valley Head Coach) Anthony (Ross)," commented Walker. "He was my assistant for two years. I mentored him and we've become friends. Sometimes he's like a son because we were in the office so much together. I really felt good for him today. He had their team play hard. They outplayed us and we're very fortunate to win the game and that the final shot was after the buzzer or we might still be playing."
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, January 21 when they travel to nationally-ranked The University of Scranton for a Landmark Conference game starting at 7:00 p.m.