BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team led by as many as six points early in the first half before falling to No. 22 The Catholic University of America, 96-79, in Landmark Conference action in Johnston Hall Saturday afternoon.
"I thought we competed and the guys played hard," stated Head Coach Justin Potts. "We did a good job early as we played the game the way we want to, getting the ball up and down the court. We had a good tempo until about the 10-minute mark, and then we struggled to score which gives us trouble getting into our press. They stood us up with a zone a little bit, and hurt us there. They have some good players in Bryson Fonville and Jay Howard. We have to just keep getting better, do a better job of playing the game we want play and execute at both ends of the floor."
Freshman forward Oneil Holder led thGreyhounds, who are 3-4 overall and 1-1 in Landmark Conference action, with his second double-double of the season as he contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds against Catholic. Freshman guard Jake McGee had 14 points in his second consecutive start while freshman guard Jimmy Murray netted 11 points for the Hounds.
Sophomore guard Matt Cardonne tossed in eight points and grabbed two boards while junior guard Isaiah Jennings added five points and a team-high five assists. Sophomore guard Khalil Rhett, freshman guard Will Brazukas and freshman guard/forward Thomas Brim each scored four points with Rhett adding four rebounds and Brazukas contributing four assists and three steals. Junior guard Sean Hanna had four rebounds, four assists and three points for Moravian while freshman forward Sebastien Jasmin grabbed three boards.
Murray gave the Hounds a quick 3-0 lead on the team's opening possession, and Holder made the lead 5-2 before Catholic moved in front, 11-7, just over two minutes into action. Moravian answered back and took a 13-12 lead on a pair of Holder free throws. After falling behind 15-13, the Blue and Grey scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 23-17 lead with 11:59 before the intermission on a fast break jumper by Murray. Jennings gave Moravian a 28-23 lead with a free throw at the 8:52 mark but the Cardinals heated up from that point and finished the half on a 28-12 run to head to the locker room leading 51-40.
Catholic maintained its lead throughout the second half with Moravian closing to 10 points once, 70-60, on a lay-up by senior forward Bobby Zimmermann. The Hounds pressing style of defense would force the Cardinals into 14 turnovers in the game.
The Greyhounds will continue their four-game home stand on Wednesday, December 9 when the squad hosts Haverford College in a non-conference game starting at 8:00 p.m. The game will be aired on tape delay by CWTAP TV on Thursday, December 10.
