BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior forward Jeff Cullinan's career-high 32 points wasn't enough to top Landmark Conference foe the University of Scranton, as Moravian fell 81-77. Cullinan added ten rebounds and three blocks in the effort.
Cullinan would come up with a big block in the early going to keep the game knotted at zero. Freshman guard Izel Dickerson would get the first bucket of the game with a layup. Cullinan would give the Greyhounds (12-13, 7-7 Landmark) a 5-2 lead after driving and making the layup while drawing the foul. He would convert the free throw. Cullinan would add a three-pointer to give the Hounds a 8-4 lead just four minutes in.
Freshman guard Ross Danzig would bring Scranton (18-7, 11-3 Landmark) within one point of the lead after a three-pointer at 10-9 five minutes into the contest. Senior center Nick Jaskula would tie the game back up at 12 with 13:30 left in the half after making a free throw, and a layup Classmate guard Luke Hawk put the Royals in front 14-12 on the next possession.
After a put-back bucket from Cullinan, sophomore guard Tommy Morgan would hit a three to extend Scranton's lead to 21-14. Cullinan would come back on the next possession with the layup while drawing the foul. He would convert the free throw for the three-point play to make the score 21-17, Scranton with 10:15 remaining in the half.
Cullinan would go in for the tough layup, and he would follow that up with two more free throws on the next possession to bring Moravian within one point of the lead at 24-23 with nine minutes to play in the half. Danzig would end the Hounds run with a put-back layup to give the Royals a 26-23 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
Cullinan would go in for the reverse the layup to give the Greyhounds the lead back at 27-26 with 6:46 remaining in the half. Senior forward Marcus Hardy would get a layup of his own as Moravian went up 29-26 with 5:37 to play in the first half. After a block from Hardy, that would lead to an easy layup from sophomore forward Cameron Cullen to put the Greyhounds up 33-28 with 4:25 left in the half.
Junior guard D.J. Strayhorn would keep the momentum up with a layup after stealing a pass to give Moravian a 35-28 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. Sophomore guard Kenny Gula came back the other way with a fade away three from the corner to push the Hounds lead to 38-30 with 2:24 to play in the first half. Moravian would take a 40-34 lead into the locker room.
Cullinan led the Greyhounds with 21 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the first half while Danzig led the Royals with 11 points and four boards. As a team, Moravian shot 47-percent from the field while Scranton shot 33-percent in the first half. Both teams had 20 rebounds while the Royals have committed one less turnover.
Junior guard Garrett Johnson would get Moravian on the board first in the second half with two free throws to take a 42-34 lead. Hawk answered right back with a layup. Danzig would come back with a three on the next possession to make the score 42-39. Cullinan responded back with a tough layup in traffic to put the Hounds up 44-39 two minutes into the half.
Dickerson nailed a deep three to extend the Greyhounds lead to eight at 47-39 three minutes into the second half. Morgan answered with a steal for the Royals, followed by a dunk. Senior forward Matt Swaback would drill a three from the corner to bring Scranton within two points of the lead at 47-45 with 15:51 to play.
After the two teams exchanged a couple of baskets Cullen would put the Hounds up by four at 52-48 with a turn-around layup with 13:25 remaining in the contest. Danzig would cut the lead to one at 54-53 with a three-pointer at the 11 minute mark of the second half. Minutes later a three from straight away by senior guard Dan Hilferty would give the Royals a 58-56 lead with nine minutes left in the game.
Strayhorn answered back with a three of his own thirty seconds later to make the score 60-59, Scranton. After a layup from Hawk, Cullinan knotted the game back at 62 with a deep three-pointer from the wing. He then stole the pass on the next possession and drove into the hoop while drawing the foul. He made both free throws to give Moravian a 64-62 lead with 7:33 left in the contest.
Danzig would hit another three on the next possession to put Scranton back up 65-64, but Strayhorn responded with a bucket of his own to make the score 66-65, Moravian with seven minutes to play. A minute later, Strayhorn would come back with a difficult layup to put the Hounds up 70-67.
The Royals would net field goals on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 74 with 2:49 remaining in the contest. Hardy answered right back with a strong layup to put Moravian up 76-74. Scranton would go for back-to-back buckets again to take a 78-76 lead with one minutes left in the contest. After two made free throws from junior guard Travis Farrell, the Royals would go onto win 81-77.
Strayhorn would finish with 17 points and five assists while Dickerson had six points and three boards. Cameron had six points and four rebounds while Johnson had five points and four boards.
Danzig lead Scranton with 28 points and nine rebounds while Hawk had 18 points. Morgan finished with 13 points and five rebounds while Farrell totaled seven points and five boards.
Moravian and Scranton both shot 45-percent from the field while the Greyhounds held the free advantage, shooting 87-percent compared to the Royals 73-percent. Scranton held the rebounding edge 33 to 32 and committed five less turnovers.
Moravian, #4 seed, will return to action on Wednesday, February 22nd as they take on #1 seed the University of Scranton in the Landmark Conference semifinals. The time of the contest is TBA.
