BRIDGEWATER, Va. --- Senior forward Brandon McGuire scored a career-high 35 points, and the Moravian College men's basketball team rallied from a 21-point second half deficit but the Greyhounds came up short as their seven-game winning streak came to an end in a 105-100 loss to Eastern Mennonite (Va.) University in the second round of the Don Glick Classic at Bridgewater (Va.) College Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds had their longest winning streak since a nine-game stretch in 2007-08 snapped as the Blue and Grey fell to 7-2 on the year. Moravian was back on the court Saturday just 16 hours after finishing a double-overtime win Friday evening over host Bridgewater in the first round of the tournament.
Moravian shot 56.7 percent (34-of-60) from the floor and 44.8 percent (13-of-29) beyond the three-point line to out-shoot the Royals from the field; however, the Greyhounds committed 21 turnovers while forcing just 13 miscues. The Hounds did a good job of distributing the ball with 22 assists on its 34 made field goals.
McGuire was 16-of-19 from the floor for his career-high 35 points as he moved into 19th in school history with 1,041 points, and McGuire added nine rebounds to raise his career total to 598, tenth in school history. He also had two assists in the contest. Sophomore guard Jimmy Murray was the only other Moravian player in double figures with 16 points while shooting 4-of-7 behind the three-point line.
Sophomore forward Oneil Holder contributed eight points, five rebounds and three assists while freshman guard Mike Martino tossed in a career-best eight points to go with three assists and a pair of boards. Senior guard Sean Hanna added seven points and four assists while freshman forward John Hargraves had six points and three rebounds. Sophomore forward Jake McGee contributed five points and a pair of boards while junior guard Matt Cardonne, sophomore guard Nicholas Casazza and freshmen guards Elijah Davis and C.J. Barnes all had three points with Barnes dishing out four assists. Junior guard Khalil Rhett added two points and two assists for the Greyhounds.
The Royals scored the opening three-pointer before Moravian took a 7-5 lead on a trey by Murray at the 17:26 mark. That ended up being the Hounds only lead of the afternoon as Eastern Mennonite scored the next four points. Rhett hit a pair of free throws to knot the score at 9-9 before the Royals took the lead for good on a three-pointer with 16:17 to play in the opening half.
Eastern Mennonite pushed its edge to double digits, 26-15, with a pair of free throws at the 13:19 mark, and the Royals headed to the locker room leading the Blue and Grey, 58-45, despite Moravian shooting 59 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of action. The difference in the first half was turnovers with the Greyhounds committing 11 to just two for the Royals.
Eastern Mennonite made the lead 16 early in the second half and led 67-53 before a 7-0 run by Moravian cut the deficit to 67-60 with 13:43 to play after a lay-up from Hanna. The Royals answered and eventually pushed their advantage to 21 points, 97-76, with 5:24 on the clock. Moravian's defense stepped up and would limit Eastern Mennonite to just two field goals and four free throws the rest of the game as the Greyhounds began to cut into the deficit.
Down 99-81, Moravian went on a 12-2 run to pull within eight points, 101-93, with 1:14 remaining on a lay-up from McGuire. The Greyhounds made it a two-possession game on a three-pointer by McGee with 19 seconds to play that cut the lead to 103-98 but it would be as close as the Blue and Grey would get.
Moravian is slated to return to action on Monday, December 19 in a non-conference game at NCAA Division I Lafayette College tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Easton.
