SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team rallied from a nine-point first half deficit to defeat Susquehanna University, 88-72, on the road Saturday afternoon in Landmark Conference action.
The Greyhounds, now 13-6 overall and 5-3 in Landmark Conference play, used a balanced scoring attack in the game with four players in double figures led by junior forward Oneil Holder, who netted a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals. Junior guard Jimmy Murray and senior guard Matt Cardonne each tossed in 16 points while junior guard Nicholas Casazza added 10 points. Murray also contributed four rebounds and a pair of assists while Cardonne had two assists and two steals and Casazza added two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
Sophomore guard Mike Martino had seven points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Hounds while sophomore forward Addis Ralph added seven rebounds, four boards and three blocked shots. Senior forward Khalil Rhett and sophomore forward C.J. Barnes each contributed three points and two rebounds while junior guard Will Brazukas, sophomore guard Elijah Davis and freshman guard Keith Otto all had two points with Brazukas dishing out two assists and Davis grabbing two boards.
Moravian shot 50 percent from the floor, making 28-of-56 shots from the field including 6-of-20 three-pointers, and the Hounds were 26-of-32 at the foul line (81.3 percent). The Greyhounds had a 32-30 edge in rebounds and forced the River Hawks into 22 turnovers with their pressure defense.
Rhett opened the scoring in the contest with a lay-up on the Hounds' first possession, and Moravian pushed out to a 9-4 lead on a three-pointer by Ralph with 16:29 on the clock. The River Hawks would respond and eventually take the lead. Murray tied the score at 16-16 with a free throw by Murray at the 11:34 mark but Susquehanna moved ahead once again. Cardonne knotted the score for a fourth time at 22-22 after a steal and lay-up with seven and a half minutes before the intermission, and Martino would give the Blue and Grey the lead once again, 24-22, with 6:18 on the clock after a pair of free throws.
The River Hawks retook the lead and stretched it to nine points, 34-25, with a 12-3 run before a three-point play by Cardonne, two free throws from Davis and back-to-back three-pointers from Murray and Casazza had Moravian ahead 36-35 with 1:13 before the intermission. Murray hit a pair of free throws with seconds on the clock, but Susquehanna added a late shot to head to the locker room with a 41-40 lead over the Greyhounds.
Holder opened the second half with a lay-up to put the Hounds back in front and a three-pointer from Cardonne and a three-point play by Holder put the Blue and Grey up 48-43 early in the half. Cardonne connected on back-to-back lay-ups to push the Moravian advantage to 58-49 with just over 13 minutes left in the contest, and Holder pushed the lead to double digits at 62-51 with 11:08 on the clock.
Murray hit a jumper with just under eight minutes to play that made the advantage 13 points, 69-56, and Martino had a pair of free throws to extend the edge to 73-58 with 5:54 remaining. Casazza hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes left on the clock to push the lead to 17 points at 82-65.
Moravian will close out its four-game road trip with a Landmark Conference contest at The University of Scranton on Wednesday, January 31 with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.