The Moravian College men's basketball had five players score in double figures including a career high 30 point by junior guard D.J. Strayhorn as the Greyhounds defeated The Catholic University of America, 95-86, Saturday evening in Washington.
Strayhorn, who has scored 28 or more points in four his last six games, now sits at 999 points in his collegiate career with 688 points in his two seasons at Moravian and 311 in his freshman year at Marywood University in 2009-10. The 95 points for the Greyhounds are a season high.
The Greyhounds, now 11-9 overall and 6-3 in Landmark Conference action, scored first on a jumper by Strayhorn at 19:34, and Moravian led 5-0 on a jumper by junior guard Garrett Johnson a minute into the game. Catholic, which falls to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play, had its first points of the game on a lay-up by senior forward Darrell Carroll at 18:32. The Greyhounds would open an eight-point lead, 12-4, on a three-pointer by senior forward Jeff Cullinan with 14:33 before the intermission.
Moravian's lead reached double digits, 18-8, on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Kenny Gula at the 12:40 mark, and the advantage was pushed to 15 points, 23-8, after two free throws by Cullinan with just under 11 minutes left in the first half. The Cardinals would get Moravian's lead back under ten points at 30-21 on a lay-up from junior forward/center Chris Kearney at the 6:49 mark but a jumper and a three-pointer by Strayhorn pushed the Greyhounds' advantage back to 14 points, 35-21.
A three-pointer from Gula at the 3:45 mark gave Moravian a 40-27 lead, and the closest Catholic would get the rest of the half was nine points on three occasions, the final time at 46-37 on a Kearney lay-up with 1:23 before the intermission. Gula hit a lay-up with 16 seconds left in the first half to send the Greyhounds to the locker room with a 51-37 lead.
The Greyhounds had a hot shooting hand in the opening half, making 19-of-29 field goal attempts (66 percent), six-of-nine three-pointers and seven-of-ten free throw attempts. Moravian had just five turnovers in the first half while Catholic made six miscues and held a 21-15 advantage in rebounds. The Cardinals connected on 13-of-37 shots from the floor (35 percent) and all 11 of their free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game; however, Catholic missed all nine of its three-point attempts in the opening half.
Junior guard Shawn Holmes opened the second half for the Cardinals with a lay-up just six seconds in while Johnson hit a three-pointer for Moravian's first points of the half at the 19:10 mark for a 54-41 lead. The Greyhounds would open an 18-point lead, 62-44, on a lay-up by freshman guard Izel Dickerson at 16:16. The Cardinals would close within 12 points, 62-50, on a lay-up from Carroll at 14:29.
After two free throws from Moravian sophomore forward Cameron Cullen, Catholic scored six straight points with a lay-up from junior guard Nate Koenig cutting the Greyhounds' lead to 64-56 with 11:54 remaining. Strayhorn pushed the Moravian lead back to double figures, 67-56, with a three-pointer.
Catholic pushed the deficit back under ten points, 73-64, on a jumper from Holmes with 8:28 on the clock, and Carroll closed the game to five points, 73-68, on a lay-up with six minutes to play. Cullinan would end the Cardinals' run with a pair of free throws at 5:38, and he gave Moravian a 77-70 lead with five minutes remaining as he connected on two more free throws.
The Greyhounds would get their lead back to double digits, 80-70, on a three-point play from junior forward Aaron Thieme. Catholic scored the next four points in the game with freshman guard/forward Steve Limberiou hitting a free throw with 3:09 to put the Cardinals down 80-74. Strayhorn connected on a pair of free throws for Moravian while Johnson hit one free throw with 1:24 to play as the lead went back to ten points, 84-74. The teams traded points at the free throw line, and Limberiou hit a pair of lay-ups to pull the Cardinals within five points, 89-84, with 35 seconds to play. Sophomore forward Cameron Cullen added four free throws in the final 34 seconds of game to seal the victory.
Moravian connected on just eight-of-24 field goal attempts in the second half (33.3 percent) but the squad was three-for-seven behind the three-point line and 25-for-31 at the foul line in the final 20 minutes. The Greyhounds had 12 turnovers in the game to 11 for Catholic, and the Cardinals finished with a 45-34 advantage in rebounds. Catholic was 16-for-40 from the floor (40 percent) but just one-for-13 behind the three-point line, and the Cardinals made 16-of-17 free throws in the second half.
Strayhorn had four rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with his 30 points while Gula tied his career high with 18 points. Cullinan contributed 13 points, three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while Johnson and Cullen each had 12 points. Johnson added seven rebounds and four assists for the Greyhounds while Cullen had seven boards and three assists. Thieme contributed five rebounds and three points while Dickerson had six points and two assists.
Limberiou paced Catholic with a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds to go with three assists while Carroll tossed in 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. Koenig contributed 19 points and two boards while Holmes had six points and two assists. Sophomore center Peter Schramm had seven points and two rebounds for the Cardinals.
Moravian will return to action on Friday, February 3rd when the Greyhounds host Susquehanna University in a Landmark Conference game in Johnston Hall tipping off at 7:30 p.m.
