BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball squad had five players net double figures as the Greyhounds rallied from an early deficit to defeat Goucher College, 84-69, in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening in Johnston Hall.
With the victory, the Hounds improve to 12-6 overall in 2016-17 as Head Coach Justin Potts and the Greyhounds surpassed the win total of 11 in his first season a year ago, and the Blue and Grey are now 5-2 halfway through the Landmark Conference season.
"It was a great team effort," Potts stated. "Our pressure allowed us to generate some easy baskets after a slow start. However, we need to keep working to be consistent from start to finish. I thought our depth was an advantage tonight. We need to continue to concentrate on playing good basketball for 40 minutes in the second half of the conference season."
Sophomore forward Oneil Holder had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and the seventh of his career to go with three steals. Senior forward Brandon McGuire and sophomore guard Jimmy Murray both also scored 14 points with McGuire grabbing seven boards to move into seventh in school history with 665 rebounds. He is 15th with 1,155 points.
Sophomore forward Jake McGee added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals while senior guard Sean Hanna tossed in 12 points to go with four assists, two boards and a pair of steals. Freshman guard C.J. Barnes ontributed eight points and three rebounds for the Greyhounds while senior guard Isaiah Jennings, freshman forward John Hargraves and junior guard Matt Cardonne all scored three points. Hargraves pulled down four rebounds while Jennings dished out four assists. Freshman guard Mike Martino had a career-high five assists in the win.
The game started slowly for the Greyhounds with the Gophers scoring the first 10 points of the contest. Hargraves hit a free throw at the 16:20 mark for Moravian's first point, and McGee would hit a three-pointer for the Hounds first field goal to make it 12-4. Goucher moved ahead 14-4 before a 10-0 run by the Greyhounds, fueled by two three-pointers by McGee and one from Cardonne, tied the game at 14-14 with 11:48 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets with Moravian taking its first lead, 18-16, on back-to-back lay-ups by Holder just before the 10-minute mark. The Gophers retook the lead by four points, 24-20, before Moravian moved in front for good with 5:58 left in the opening half on a Hanna lay-up, 27-25. Hanna's bucket started a 17-4 run to end the half as the Greyhounds headed to the locker room with a 42-29 advantage.
Moravian would keep its lead in double digits the entire second half with Goucher closing within 10 points on two occasions in the fist six minutes of the half. The Hounds biggest lead of the contest, 73-53, came with 5:41 remaining after back-to-back three-pointers from Murray. The Blue and Grey also finished the game by forcing 23 turnovers while only committing 13 miscues.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, January 28 when the squad hosts No. 11 Susquehanna University in a Landmark Conference game tipping off at 4:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall. Moravian will be taking part in Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers on Saturday with the admission price for each game of the doubleheader with the women's team being donated.
