BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Junior forward Brandon McGuire returned to the Moravian College lineup after missing two games with an injury and led four Greyhounds in double figures with a season-high 28 points as the Hounds defeated visiting Haverford College, 88-58, in non-conference action in Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.
"I thought we did a good job and it was a complete team effort," commented Head Coach Justin Potts. "We got some good minutes from everyone especially getting Brandon back including off of the bench. We shared the ball as we were 19 assists to 10 turnovers, which is great, and I thought we did a good job of turning them over as they had just seven assists to 21 turnovers so we were a plus 11 in the turnover margin which is obviously where we want to be with our style of play. I thought it was the best we've been for a complete game. I thought we were good in transition offense, and I thought we were better on the defensive end. The guys played well coming off of a loss, and we've bounced back after every loss this season."
McGuire also had eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while freshman forward Oneil Holder contributed 16 points, eight boards and a pair of steals. Freshman guard Jimmy Murray tossed in 15 points while freshman guard/forward Jake McGee added 11 points and five rebounds. The quartet combined to go 28-for- 44 from the floor as Moravian shot 35-for-65 (53.8 percent) from the field as a team in the game.
"I thought we took better shots than we had the past couple of games tonight," noted Potts. "We took more shots in rhythm, and we got out in transition. We were able to get guys to the front of the rim in transition. Jimmy shot the ball really well, and I think he is staring to get a little more comfortable. Getting Brandon back in the middle opened some things up for some guys because you've got to respect him in the low post."
Junior guard Sean Hanna and sophomore guard Matt Cardonne each scored five points with Hanna adding five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Isaiah Jennings dished out a game-high six assists with no turnovers to go with four rebounds and two points for the Greyhounds while sophomore guard Khalil Rhett had three boards and a pair of assists.
Holder gave the Blue and Grey an immediate lead as he scored just three seconds after the opening tip-off, and McGuire added the first of five three-pointers in the game as Moravian led 5-0 just 31 seconds into action. Leading 16-14, Moravian scored five straight on a three-pointer by Cardonne and a lay-up from Holder to push the lead to 21-14 with 12:22 still to play in the opening half. The Hounds would open up their first double-digit lead at the first half buzzer when Murray connected on a long three-pointer to send Moravian to the locker room with a 40-30 advantage.
The Hounds kept up the defensive pressure in the second half as the lead remained in double digits for the final 20 minutes of action, reaching 33 points at 86-53 with 39 seconds to play on a lay-up by sophomore guard Jack Aussenheimer.
Moravian will play its final contest before a three-week break on Friday, December 11 when the Greyhounds host Penn State Lehigh Valley in a non-conference game tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
