BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team used a hot shooting first half to jump out to a 21-point lead on the way to defeating Penn State Lehigh Valley, 91-69, in the opening round of the 37th Roosevelt's 21st Greyhound Classic in Johnston Hall Friday.
The Hounds, now 8-3 on the year, snapped a two-game skid that included a loss at NCAA Division I Lafayette College on December 19, the Blue and Grey's last game before Friday's action.
"It was a great team effort today," noted Head Coach Justin Potts. "We got off o a good start, which I thought was important after being off for a week or so. We did a good job of executing at both ends of the floor and got some great efforts from starters and guys off the bench. I was proud of the way we played from start to finish."
Moravian had four players in double figures led by sophomore guard Jimmy Murray, who netted 17 points to go with four rebounds. Senior forward Brandon McGuire added 15 points to move into 18th in school history with 1,062 points, and McGuire also had three assists and six rebounds to raise his career total to 612 boards. Sophomore forwards Oneil Holder and Jake McGee both had 10 points with McGee grabbing six boards and Holder pulling down four rebounds.
Sophomore guard Will Brazukas and freshman guard C.J. Barnes each netted seven points with Brazukas adding four assists and three steals and Barnes contributing three rebounds. Freshman forward John Hargraves had five points and three boards for the Greyhounds while junior guard Matt Cardonne also had five points. Freshman guard Elijah Davis and junior guard Khalil Rhett each had four points and three rebounds while senior guard Isaiah Jennings had four points, three assists and a pair of steals. Senior guard Sean Hanna added three points while freshman guard Mike Martino had three assists for Moravian as all 16 players in uniform all saw at least three minutes of action in the win.
The Greyhounds scored the first 10 points of the game starting with a three-pointer by Murray and a lay-up from Jennings three minutes into action finished the surge. Moravian continued to make baskets and a three-pointer by McGuire had the Blue and Grey up 28-9 midway through the opening 20 minutes of action. Another trey by McGuire pushed Moravian's lead past 20 points, and the Greyhounds headed to the locker room with a 49-28 lead. The Hounds pressure defense also forced Penn State Lehigh Valley into 15 first half turnovers while Moravian had just five miscues in the opening 20 minutes.
Murray opened the scoring again in the second half, and the Greyhounds saw their lead reach 33 points after Brazukas drained a three-pointer, stole the inbounds pass and hit a lay-up with 13:57 remaining for a 67-34 edge. Moravian's largest lead of the contest was at the 8:15 mark as McGee connected on a three-pointer for an 83-47 advantage.
Moravian is scheduled to play Cabrini University in the second round of the 37th Roosevelt's 21st Greyhound Classic on Saturday, December 31 at 5:30 p.m. in Johnston Hall. The Cavaliers defeated Montclair State University, 89-82, in the other first round game on Saturday. Penn State Lehigh Valley and Montclair State will play at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
