BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team won its third straight contest as the Greyhounds used a balanced scoring attack to post an 84-74 win over visiting DeSales University Tuesday night in Johnston Hall in the teams' annual pre-Thanksgiving game.
"I think we're starting to play better," noted fourth-year Head Coach Justin Potts. "I think the challenging schedule early helped us, and exposed some things we needed to work on quickly. Tonight, one of the things we've talked about it being able to respond to certain situations. They jumped us, Scott's team got after us pretty good early and we responded, which I think was good and shows that we're growing a little bit. I think both teams have a chance to have good years, and I have a lot of respect for their program and the players in there.
"I thought our depth really helped us tonight, and I though we wore them down," continued Potts. "Our pressure has been as good as it's been since I've been here through the first five games, and I thought the turnovers led to some easy stuff. We also shot free throws well probably for the first time all season which made things a little easier down the stretch."
The Hounds, now 3-2 on the season, had three players in double figures led by senior forward Oneil Holder, who had 14 points to go with five rebounds. Senior guard Jimmy Murray tossed in 13 points to become the 14th player in school history to reach 1,200 points while senior guard Will Brazukas added 12 points including a 10-for-10 performance at the foul line to go with six assists. Senior guard Nicholas Casazza had nine points on a trio of three-pointers while sophomore guard Keith Otto contributed seven points three rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists.
Junior forward John Hargraves and sophomore guard Shon Wilson each had six points while junior forward Addis Ralph and freshman forward Steve Breeman both netted five points and grabbed two rebounds. Junior guard Elijah Davis also had five points, five boards and two assists while junior guard Mike Martino added two points and a pair of assists.
Moravian connected on 26-of-56 field goal attempts in the contest to go with 11-of-26 on three-pointers and 21-of-25 at the foul line. The Hounds up-tempo press forced DeSales into 25 turnovers.
The Bulldogs led 3-0 before Otto knotted the score with a three-pointer a minute into action. DeSales would pull back in front and take a 14-5 lead, and the Bulldogs were also up nine points, 21-12, with 11:11 to play in the first half. The Blue and Grey slowly cut back into the deficit and would tie the score at 31-31 on a three-pointer by Casazza with 3:51 until the intermission. The Greyhounds added seven more points and headed to the locker room with a 38-33 advantage after a jumper from Martino.
The Hounds would hold onto the lead for the entire second half with DeSales cutting the deficit to a point, 38-37, before Murray connected on a three-pointer with 17-16 to play. Moravian pushed its advantage into double digits on another trey by Murray with 8:55 to play, and the Greyhounds would lead by a game-high 15 points, 67-52, after two Davis free throws with 5:47 remaining.
Moravian is slated to return to action on Saturday, December 1 when the squad hosts Elizabethtown College at 4:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall to begin the 2018-19 Landmark Conference season.
