BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team dropped a 75-63 decision to The University of Scranton in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening in Johnston Hall.
The Greyhounds, who fall to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in Landmark Conference play, had three players in double figures with junior guard Jimmy Murray tossing in a team-high 17 points to go with three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds. Junior forward Oneil Holder added 16 points, a team-high seven rebounds and three assists while sophomore forward C.J. Barnes had 12 points and a pair of boards.
Senior forward Khalil Rhett had six points and four rebounds for the Blue and Grey while sophomore guard Elijah Davis added five points, two board and two steals. Junior guard Will Brazukas contributed four points, three rebounds and a pair of assists as he became the 10th player in school history to reach 200 career assists. Junior guard Nicholas Casazza had three points while sophomore guard Mike Martino pulled down a pair of rebounds.
Moravian was unable to overcome a hot shooting night by the Royals, who connected on 56 percent of their shots. The Greyhounds were 24-of-59 on field goal attempts and just 6-of-23 three-pointers. The Hounds were 9-for-9 at the charity stripe while forcing Scranton into 16 turnovers to just 12 miscues for the Blue and Grey.
The Royals opened the scoring before lay-ups from Holder and Davis gave the Greyhounds a 4-2 lead. Holder connected on a three-pointer, and a three-pointer and lay-up from Barnes had the Hounds ahead 12-6 three minutes into action. Scranton scored the next six points before a lay-up from Rhett and a jumper by Holder gave the Blue and Grey a 16-12 advantage.
Scranton retook the lead with a three-pointer before a trey by Davis put Moravian ahead 21-19 with 9:46 before the intermission. The game remained close for the next few minutes before a three-pointer and lay-up from Murray had the Hounds up, 30-27, with 3:28 left in the half. Murray knotted the score for the seventh time at 32-32 with a jumper at 1:33 but the Royals would score the last six points of the half including two baskets in the last three seconds to head to the locker room with a 38-32 advantage after 20 minutes of action.
The Royals also scored the first nine points of the second half for a 47-32 lead before Barnes connected on a three-pointer from the corner to end a seven-minute stretch of game time that Moravian was unable to score during. Casazza hit a three-pointer at 12:49 as the Greyhounds trailed 51-40 before Scranton pushed its advantage up to 17 points. The Hounds would close within eight points, 68-60, with 3:03 to play on a lay-up by Rhett off of an offensive rebound; however, Moravian would get just a three-point play from Holder the rest of the way.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, January 20 in a Landmark Conference game at Juniata College tipping off at 2:00 p.m. in Huntingdon.
