MADISON, N.J. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought and back-and-forth Landmark Conference game at Drew University, 79-75, Wednesday evening.
The Greyhounds slip to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in Landmark Conference action after the game.
Moravian had four players in double figures led by senior forward Oneil Holder, who had 21 points, five assists and four rebounds as he moved into sixth in school history with 1,417 points. Senior guard Jimmy Murray added 20 points to move into a tie for eighth with 1,348 points while senior guard Nicholas Casazza contributed 12 points, two steals and two boards and junior guard C.J. Barnes had 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Sophomore guard Matt O'Connor tossed in five points while junior guard Elijah Davis had three points, two rebounds and two assists. Junior forward John Hargraves added three rebounds, two points and a pair of blocked shots while senior guard Will Brazukas had two points, two assists and a pair of boards and freshman forward Steve Breeman pulled down two rebounds.
Moravian was 26-of-56 from the field, 6-for-21 beyond the three-point line and 17-of-20 at the foul line in the contest.
Drew opened the scoring, but Holder scored back-to-back lay-ups to give the Blue and Grey a 4-2 edge. The Rangers pulled ahead 11-6 before and 8-2 run by the Hounds capped by two free throws by Murray had Moravian on top 14-13 midway through the first half. O'Connor hit a lay-up to put the Greyhounds ahead 19-18, and a jumper from Holder at the 3:42 mark had stretched the Moravian lead to seven points. Murray finished off the scoring in the first half with a pair of free throws to send the Hounds to the locker room with a 34-30 lead.
The Greyhounds held their advantage through the first 12 minutes of the second half, stretching it to nine points, 55-46, on a jumper by Casazza with 12:45 on the clock. Barnes hit a lay-up to set the score at 61-55 Moravian with 8:49 to play but the Blue and Grey would not score for three minutes and during that time, the Rangers went on a 12-0 run to flip the score to 67-61 Drew. The Rangers would get the advantage to eight points, 71-63, with 4:46 to go before Moravian slowly climbed back in the game with Murray knotting the score for the fifth time at 73-73 with a pair of free throws with 1:54 remaining. Barnes tied it again at 75-75 all with 44 seconds to play but Drew would get a lay-up and two free throws to finish off the scoring.
The Hounds are scheduled to return to the hardwood on Saturday, January 19 in a Landmark Conference game when the squad travels to Goucher College in Towson, Maryland for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.