CENTER VALLEY, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team had a three-point halftime lead in its annual Tuesday before Thanksgiving non-conference game against DeSales University, and the Greyhounds led by four points with 15 minutes remaining before the Bulldogs rallied past the Hounds, 79-66, in Billera Hall Tuesday evening.
"I think we played hard, and I think that is our calling card at this point," commented first-year Head Coach Justin Potts. "I think we are doing a good job of getting the game to the style that we want it but the bottom line is that we just never really got in a rhythm tonight. Coach Coval has a great team and they did a good job at trying to execute their stuff. I thought when we could score and get into our press, it played to our advantage. It was a game that just didn't have a whole lot of flow to it. In the end, they made some shots in the second half to take the lead back and stretch it a little bit, and we weren't able get it done on both ends of the floor tonight."
The Greyhounds had a pair of players in double figures in the game with freshman forward Oneil Holder scoring a game and career-high 23 points and four rebounds. Junior forward Brandon McGuire added 10 points and a team high seven rebounds for Moravian.
Freshman guard Jimmy Murray had seven points, three rebounds and a pair of steals for the Hounds while freshman guard Jake McGee had seven points. Sophomore guard Khalil Rhett contributed six points and five rebounds while junior guard Isaiah Jennings had five points, four board and a team high four assists. Junior guard Sean Hanna added four points, three assists and a pair of steals.
DeSales scored the opening points before a three-pointer by McGuire put the Hounds ahead. Hanna would make the lead 9-6 with a three pointer but the Bulldogs started to pull away, leading by as many as six points. Moravian rallied back and tied the contest at 19-19 on a lay-up by Rhett with 7:56 before the intermission. Holder put the Blue and Grey back in front before a three-pointer by McGee pushed the lead to three. Freshman forward Sebastien Jasmin connected on a jumper in the lane just as the first half buzzer sounded to send Moravian to the locker room with a 30-27 advantage.
The Bulldogs used a quick three-pointer at the beginning of the second half to tie the game but the Greyhounds pulled back in front again, going ahead by four points, 42-38, on a pair of free throws by Holder with 14:40 remaining. The Hounds would hold a three-point edge, 50-47, with 10:23 remaining after a Murray three-pointer but DeSales scored the next six points to take a lead it would never relinquish.
For the fourth straight game under Coach Potts, Moravian's up-tempo, pressing style forced the Greyhounds opponent into more turnovers as DeSales had 18 miscues while the Hounds turned the ball over 13 times. The Greyhounds scored 18 of their points off of turnovers.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Sunday, November 29 in a non-conference game at Lebanon Valley College tipping off at 2:00 p.m.
