BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team was defeated by Rutgers-Newark, 67-62, Monday evening. The Greyhounds trailed by as much as 15, but came back to within one point with under 30 seconds to play as the Scarlet Raiders went onto win.
Sophomore guard Christian Garcia started the scoring for Rutgers (13-3) with a mid-range jumper. Classmate guard John Snow followed with a three for the quick lead. The Scarlet Knights went up 8-0 before senior guard D.J. Strayhorn hit a three-pointer for the Greyhounds (9-6) to make the score 8-3.
Strayhorn hit a three from the corner to make the score 10-6 five minutes in. Senior guard Garrett Johnson followed with another three to put the score at 10-9. Senior forward Aaron Thieme went from long-range to put Moravian up 12-10 seven minutes in. Strayhorn hit his third three-pointer to make the score 15-10.
Freshman forward David Ozoroh made one-of-two free throws to end the Greyhounds run. Ozoroh added a layup to make the score 15-14 with nine minutes into the first half. Freshman forward Matt Bosch responded with a layup for the 17-14 lead.
Ozoroh gave the lead back to the Scarlet Raiders at 18-17 with layup. Senior forward Mark Mooreman extended their lead to three at 20-17 with 8:44 to play in the half. Rutgers added two more scores to go up 24-17 with 7:23 to play in the half. Junior center Cameron Cullen ended the Scarlet Raiders run with a layup.
Rutgers then went on a 6-0 with points from Snow and senior forward Fateen Belfield for the 32-21 lead with four minutes to play in the half. Johnson ended the run with a free throw. Cullen hit back-to-back layups to make the score 34-26 with two minutes left in the half.
After a timeout, sophomore guard Izel Dickerson it a three from the wing. Strayhorn followed with a jumper from the top of the key to make the score 34-31, Rutgers, going into halftime.
The Scarlet Raiders shot 58-percent from the field while the Greyhounds shot 44-percent from the field in the half. Moravian went 6-for-13 from the beyond the arc. Rutgers tallied one more rebound than Moravian while both teams committed nine turnovers. Strayhorn led the Greyhounds with 11 points while Snow led the Scarlet Raiders with 11.
Junior guard Kenny Gula started the second half with a three from straight away to tie the game at 34. Johnson followed with a layup for the 36-34 lead. Sophomore guard Doze Ikwuegbu put Rutgers back on top with a three, and Moorman followed with lay-in for the 39-36 lead.
Strayhorn ended the Scarlet Raiders 15-0 run with two free throws to put the score at 49-38 with 12:30 remaining in the game. Thieme came back with a layup from underneath. Strayhorn added a layup and a free throw to make the score 49-43 with 11:29 to play. Johnson hit an easy lay-in off the inbound pass, and Dickerson added a breakaway layup after a block to put the score at 49-48 with 9:44.
Garcia ended the Greyhounds with a deep two from the corner for Rutgers. Strayhorn tied the game up at 51 with a breakaway layup, but Belfield put Rutgers back up 53-51 with a dunk.
Strayhorn nailed a three from the corner to put Moravian back on top 54-53 with seven minutes remaining. Johnson added a lay-in for the 56-53 lead on the next possession. After trading scores, Garcia gave Rutgers the lead back with a steal and layup. Garcia added another layup for the 61-58 lead with three minutes to play.
Strayhorn hit two clutch free throws with a minute to go to put the score at 61-60, but Garcia came back with a jumper at the other end. Cullen then hit a lay-in to make the score 63-62, Rutgers, with 30 seconds to play. Ikwuegbu made two free throws with 17 seconds to play to go up 65-62. Cullen put up a three with two seconds remaining, but it bounced off the iron as the Scarlet Raiders added two free throws to win 67-62.
Strayhorn led the way for Moravian with 23 points, three assists and two steals while Johnson had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Cullen added 11 rebounds and eight points while Thieme had six points and four boards.
Garcia led Rutgers with 23 points, four assists and two steals while Snow added 11 points. Ikwuegbu had nine points, seven boards, three assists and two steals while Azoroh finished with eight points.
The Greyhounds shot 38-percent from the field while the Scarlet Raiders shot 51-percent from the field for the game. Moravian held the edge in rebounds at 40-28 while Rutgers committed three less turnovers.
The Greyhounds return to the court on Saturday, January 19th as they travel to Landmark Conference foe Susquehanna University. The contest is set for 4 p.m.
