BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team defeated Kean University, 63-54, Wednesday night in the first day of the 35th Annual Greyhound Classic. Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn led the way for the Greyhounds (7-2) with 16 points, three assists and three steals.
In the contest Moravian broke the school's block record with 12 for the game. The record was previously set at ten versus The Catholic University of America back in the 2010-11 season.
Junior guard Kenny Gula put the first bucket on the board for Moravian with a running jumper. Classmate center Cameron Cullen then came back with a layup underneath for a quick 4-0 lead. Senior guard Garrett Johnson then drilled a three-pointer for a 7-0 lead three minutes in.
Junior forward Kayle Latorre ended the Greyhounds run with a layup to make the score 7-2, but Johnson answered at the other end with a stop jumper from the free throw line. Junior guard Michael Burton then hit a rainbow three to make the score 9-5, Moravian, just four minutes in. Junior center Blake English then hit a turnaround layup for the 11-5 lead.
English and Strayhorn then went back-to-back to push Moravian's lead to 18-9 with 12:36 remaining in the half. Junior guard Kenny Pace hit a jumper for Kean to make the score 19-11 with 11:16 left in the half. Burton then hit a three-pointer two minutes later to cut the Greyhounds lead to 19-14. J.J. Hladik then hit a three for the Cougars to make the score 21-17, but Gula answered with a baseline jumper.
After exchanging baskets back and forth, back-to-back three-pointers from Hladik knotted the contest up at 25 with 4:37 to play in the first half. Senior guard Mike Shaughnessy then gave the Cougars a 27-25 lead after driving to the hoop for a layup. Hladik then hit a deep two for the 29-25 lead with 3:27 remaining in the first half.
English ended Kean's 12-0 run with a turnaround layup to make the score 31-27, Kean, with 2:06 left in the first half. Johnson would tally two free throws, and Cullen hit a buzz-beater jumper to tie the contest back up at 31 at halftime.
Moravian shot 39-percent from the field while Kean shot 37-percent from the field for the half. The Cougars held a 22-20 rebounding edge while the Greyhounds committed three less turnovers in the half. English led the way for Moravian with eight points, three blocks and two rebounds while Hladik had 13 points for Kean.
Burton started the second half with a deep three-pointer to put Kean back on top, but Strayhorn responded with a three of his own to keep the game tied at 34. Senior forward Aaron Thieme then hit a layup to put Moravian up by two, but freshman guard Tommy Soulias hit a three for the one-point lead.
Strayhorn then drove to the hoop for the layup to go up 38-37, two and a half minutes in. The Cougars then took a three-point lead at 41-38 after a layup from Latorre and two free throws by Soulias, four minutes into the half. Strayhorn ended the Cougars run with a coast-to-coast layup to make the score 43-40, Kean, five minutes in.
With 11 minutes remaining in the game, Gula hit a three from the corner to bring the Greyhounds within two points of the lead at 45-43. After a big block from English, sophomore guard Izel Dickerson hit a straight-away three to give Moravian the lead back at 46-45 with 10:22 remaining in the game. Thieme then extended the Greyhounds lead to three with a deep two with nine minutes to play. Gula and Johnson then hit back-to-back buckets to give the Hounds to cap a 9-0 run and give Moravian a 52-45 lead with 7:39 left in the game.
Burton ended the Greyhounds run with a layup to make the score 52-47 with 6:35 to play. After exchanging baskets, Strayhorn drilled a deep three and followed that up with a steal and two free throws for the 61-51 lead with 2:19 remaining in the game. Johnson then drove in for the layup to put Moravian up 63-51 on the next possession. That would be it for Kean as Moravian went onto win 63-54.
Johnson finished the game with 12 points and a career-high five blocks while English added eight points, five blocks and three rebounds. Cullen added eight points and nine rebounds while Gula put up nine points and three assists.
Hladik led Kean with 16 points and two steals while Latorre had ten points and nine rebounds. Burton finished with nine points and two steals while Shaughnessy pulled down six boards.
Moravian shot 42-percent from the field while Kean shot 31-percent from the field for the game. The Cougars held the rebounding edge at 42-41 while the Greyhounds committed two less turnovers.
Moravian will take on the winner of the New Jersey City University / Valley Forge Christian College game in the championship tomorrow, January 3rd at 7:30 p.m. Kean will take on the loser of that game in the consolation game at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
