ALLENTOWN, Pa. --- The Moravian University men's basketball squad fell to host and rival Muhlenberg College, 94-71, in non-conference action Friday evening to open the 2021-22 season.

How It Happened

• The Mules scored the opening points on a three-pointer before junior guard Nate Dougherty  scored the first points of the season for the Hounds. Muhlenberg moved out to an 8-2 edge before sophomore forward Mike DiPietro cut it to a one-point contest at 8-7. The Mules pulled out to a 17-9 advantage just over five minutes into action, and Muhlenberg led 22-14 when the Blue and Grey went on an 8-0 run to knot the score at 22-22 on a lay-up from DiPietro with eight minutes before the intermission
• Muhlenberg countered with an 8-0 run of its own to go back on top, 30-22, with 6:40 left in the first half. Moravian answered once again and eventually took a 33-32 lead on a jumper by sophomore forward Thomas Abato  with 2:28 to go. However, the Mules would end the half with a 10-2 run to head to the locker room leading the Greyhounds 42-35
• The Mules began the second half with a 15-4 run over the first seven minutes of action and would lead by as many as 30 points during the final ten minutes of action

Firsts for the Hounds

• Mike Frew '02 was the Head Coach in a collegiate game for the first time. Frew was a high school head coach for eight years in his career before being named as the Greyhounds Interim Head Coach for 2021-22
• Senior guard Danny Cooper, freshman forward Nate Santiago, freshman guard/forward Michael Leonardo and Abato made their debuts in a Moravian uniform, and Cooper and Santiago made their first collegiate starts

Inside the Numbers

• Moravian has a trio of players in double figures led DiPietro, who netted a career-high 18 points. Cooper tossed in 15 points while Dougherty contributed 10 points
• DiPierto and Cooper both reached double digits for the first time in their careers. DiPietro also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots while Cooper added five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists
• Dougherty hit double digits for the third time as a Greyhound, and he contributed six rebounds
• Abato recorded nine points for Moravian while sophomore guard/forward James Thompson had eight points and three assists
• Sophomore guard Alex Dietz added seven points, three rebounds and two assists while Santiago and Leonardo both had two points with Santiago contributing four assists and two boards
• Moravian shot 42.3 percent (30-for-71) in the game but couldn't overcome the Mules shooting as the host went 37-for-66 (56.1 percent) with 11 three-pointers

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Monday, November 8 vs. Penn State Brandywine, 7:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 16 vs. Delaware Valley University, 7:00 p.m.