BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team heads into its regular season finale Saturday at #13 The Catholic University of America tipping off at 6:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. with a chance to clinch the fourth seed in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament on the line.
The Greyhounds, who are 14-10 overall and 6-7 in Landmark Conference action enter the game needing one of two things to happen to earn their second straight postseason berth. Moravian can clinch the fourth and final seed in the four-team playoff with a victory Saturday evening. However, the Greyhounds can also earn the spot before they even take the floor for the game at the DuFour Center. Susquehanna University is hosting The United States Merchant Marine Academy at 4 p.m. Saturday in Selinsgrove. If the Crusaders win, Moravian holds the tiebreaker over the two schools and will clinch a playoff berth before the game with Catholic begins. If USMMA is victorious, then the Greyhounds must defeat Catholic to head to the Landmark Conference Tournament for a second consecutive year.
The top three seeds are set for the Landmark Tournament with Catholic, 21-3 overall and 11-2 in Landmark Conference action holding the top seed already. The University of Scranton is locked into the second seed while Juniata College will be the third seed. If Moravian clinches the fourth seed, they'll be headed back to Washington, D.C. for a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 20th at 7:30 p.m. When the Greyhounds and Cardinals met earlier this season in Bethlehem on January 12th, Catholic posted an 85-59 victory while ranked sixth in the country at that time.
Moravian Head Coach Jim Walker has the Greyhounds looking for their third Landmark Conference Tournament berth in the six-year history of the conference. Walker has a career record of 425-405 in his 33 years at the school.
Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn leads the way for Moravian on the court with an average 15.2 points per game, to go with 88 assists, 66 rebounds, 46 steals and 40 three-pointers. Earlier this week, Strayhorn was named to the Lehigh Valley Small College Men's Basketball Team of the Year, and Strayhorn became the 19th player . Senior guard Garrett Johnson is putting up 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest to go along with his 58 assists, 32 steals, 29 three-pointers and 16 blocked shots while junior center Cameron Cullen is averaging 10.2 points and 7.3 boards per game to go with his 25 steals, 22 assists and seven blocked shots.
Junior center Blake English has averages of 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a reserve to go with his team-best 33 blocked shots, 17 steals, 11 assists and 11 three-pointers while sophomore guard Izel Dickerson is averaging 7.8 points per contest to go with his 50 rebounds, 39 assists, 30 steals and 29 three-pointers. Junior guard Kenny Gula is putting up 7.0 points per contest to go with 27 three-pointers, 33 rebounds and 18 assists while senior forward Aaron Thieme has averages of 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 points per game to go with his 22 blocked shots, 22 assists and 15 steals.
Freshman forward Matt Bosch is contributing 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per outing in his debut season to go with 20 assists and 12 steals while freshman guard Jarrod Dilts has 46 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 11 three-pointers and eight steals this winter. Junior guard Mike Bonavita has added 36 points on 12 three-pointers to go with six assists while senior forward Mike Weinert has added 43 rebounds and 12 points in his final season.
Catholic is coached by Steve Howes, who is entering his ninth season at the school.
On the court, the Cardinals are led by senior forward Chris Kearney, who is averaging 17.3 points per contest along with 7.0 rebounds per game to go with 42 assists and a team-high 52 blocked shots. Classmate guard Shawn Holmes is averaging 16.4 points per contest, to go with his 79 assists, 44 steals and 36 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Steve Limberiou has averages 14.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game to go along with 62 three-pointers, 31 assists, 19 steals and 12 blocked shots.
Senior guard Nate Koenig has 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game to go with his 54 assists, 22 steals and 21 three-pointers while freshman guard Bryson Fonville averages 8.0 points per contest to go along with his team high 101 assists and 19 steals.
