BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team had an early first half lead, and freshman guard Jimmy Murray netted 23 points but it wasn't enough as the Greyhounds fell to No. 18 Susquehanna University, 88-66, in Landmark Conference action Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.
"The credit goes to coach Frank Marcinek and the team at Susquehanna. It is a really good team this year, and they play really well together," commented Head Coach Justin Potts. "I told our guys that is what we are trying to get to. They've been the class of the league this year. I thought we did some good things but we just didn't put together enough long stretches. I thought we played well early and made some shots but we struggled to guard for long stretches. I was proud that we competed and fought, and we stayed with things and tried to execute them."
Murray added three rebounds and a pair of assists to his 23 points as he led a trio of Greyhounds in double figures. Sophomore guard Matt Cardonne tossed in 13 points while freshman forward Oneil Holder added 11 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Brandon McGuire had nine points, four boards and two blocked shots for Moravian while junior guard Isaiah Jennings contributed five points, four rebounds and a trio of assists. Freshman guard Jake McGee had four rebounds.
"I thought Jimmy played great, and he has done a good job recently of getting into the gym to get some extra shots up," Potts said. "He showed some really good ability to make his own shot today and get us going. I also thought Brandon did a good job competing around the basket. I thought we did a pretty good job collectively as a team especially some guys off the bench that played a little bit more than they normally do."
McGuire hit a three-pointer just 21 seconds into action as Moravian jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and a three-pointer from Murray made the lead 11-5 at the 18:26 mark. The Greyhounds had a 15-11 advantage after another three-pointer from Murray, and the lead was 18-15 after a McGuire jumper at the 14:09 mark. However, Susquehanna would go on an 11-1 run to take a 26-19 lead at the 9:13 mark, and the Crusaders pushed the lead to 27 points before heading to the locker room with a 55-31 lead.
Moravian started to cut into the lead early in the second half and trailed 61-46 with 15:53 to play before the Crusaders pushed the advantage back over 20 points.
The Hounds up-tempo, pressing defense that Coach Potts has installed this season in his first year leading the program forced Susquehanna into 21 turnovers on the afternoon.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, February 10 in a Landmark Conference game at Drew University tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Madison, New Jersey.
