BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team posted an 80-67 victory over visiting The University of Scranton in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening in Johnston Hall.
The Hounds improve to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in Landmark Conference play with the win.
"I thought it was a good game from two teams that have a chance to have really good years," stated Head Coach Justin Potts. "I have the ultimate respect for Coach Danzig and his program. I thought out guys did a good job of fighting through some stuff and got the tempo and pace where we wanted. Our pressure was really good, and we turned them over 28 times, which led to some easy baskets. I'm proud of our guys for grinding out a win against a really good team."
Moravian had three players in double figures led by senior forward Oneil Holder, who netted 22 points to go with five rebounds, five steals and a pair of assists. Senior guard Nicholas Casazza tossed in 16 points to go along with four assists and two steals while junior guard Elijah Davis had 14 points and four rebounds.
Junior forward John Hargraves and sophomore guard Matt O'Connor each contributed seven points with O'Connor making two steals while senior guard Jimmy Murray had six points and three rebounds. Freshman forward Steve Breeman netted three points with two boards while senior guard Will Brazukas and junior guard C.J. Barnes each had three rebounds and two points with Brazukas adding three steals. Sophomore guard Shon Wilson had one point while sophomore guard Keith Otto had three rebounds and junior guard Mike Martino added two rebounds and a pair of assists.
The Blue and Grey connected on 28-of-64 field goal attempts, 10-of-28 three-pointers and 14-of-19 free throws, and Moravian's up-tempo press forced Scranton into 28 turnovers while the Hounds only committed 12 miscues.
Scranton scored the opening points of the game before a lay-up from Holder. The Greyhounds led by three points, 7-4, after a lay-up by Holder after a steal but the Royals came back to take an 11-9 edge at the 15:47 mark. Casazza and Breeman followed with back-to-back three-pointers as Moravian took the lead for good. Holder pushed the advantage to seven points, 20-13, with 11:44 to play in the first half before Scranton closed within a point twice around the four-minute mark before the Blue and Grey stretched the lead again and headed to the locker room with a 37-31 edge.
The Royals hit the first basket of the second half and trailed 42-37 before Murray hit a jumper and Holder had two lay-ups off of steals and a three-pointer to push the Moravian advantage to 51-37 with 16:31 remaining. Hargraves hit a lay-up at 12:27 to give the Hounds a 61-46 cushion before Scranton slowly crept back and cut the deficit to three points, 66-63, with 3:44 to go. Casazza hit a three-pointer, and O'Connor stole the inbounds pass and scored to push the lead right back to eight points. Davis would hit three free throws in the final minute and Murray added a pair from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
The Greyhounds are slated to return to action on Saturday, January 12 when the squad hosts Juniata College in a Landmark Conference contest beginning at 4:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
