Men's Basketball Falls to Susquehanna
January 19, 2013

Men's Basketball Falls to Susquehanna

SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Susquehanna University men’s basketball team rallied from an early deficit to post a 72-60 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Moravian College Saturday.

Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Susquehanna University men's basketball team rallied from an early deficit to post a 72-60 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Moravian College Saturday.

The Greyhounds, who fall to 9-7 overall and 2-4 in Landmark Conference action, jumped out to a 3-0 lead as junior guard Kenny Gula connected on a three-pointer just 16 seconds into the game.  Susquehanna, now 6-11 overall and 2-4 in conference action, answered on a three-pointer from freshman guard Brandon Hedley, and the Crusaders moved in front 5-3 on a lay-up from sophomore forward Tony Seldon.  Moravian moved back in front, 7-5, at the 18:11 mark after a lay-up and two free throws by junior center Cameron Cullen. 

Senior guard Garrett Johnson drilled a three-pointer and Cullen followed with a lay-up as the Greyhounds built a 12-5 lead just over four minutes into the game.  The Crusaders then answered with eight straight points to retake the lead at 13-12 on another three-pointer from Hedley at the 14:26 mark, and a three-pointer from senior forward J.T. Wilson pushed the Susquehanna edge to four points at 16-12.

Cullen made a pair of free throws to give him ten points in the contest at the ten minute mark of the first half, cutting the Crusaders' lead to 18-16.  Susquehanna pushed the lead to eight points, 26-18, on Hedley's fourth three-pointer of the game at the 6:18 mark.  The Crusaders pushed their lead to double digits, 30-20, after a pair of lay-ups from freshman forward Tre Dean, and Wilson would hit a three-pointer with 4:15 left before halftime to give Susquehanna a 33-20 lead. 

Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn would snap the Crusaders run with a jumper before Susquehanna's freshman guard Josh Miller answered back with a three-pointer.  Senior forward Aaron Thieme connected on a three-pointer for the Greyhounds to send the game to the locker room with Susquehanna leading 33-27 at halftime. 

The Greyhounds, who have dropped four straight conference contests, struggled shooting in the first half, connecting on just ten-of 30 field goal attempts (33.3 percent), three-of-12 behind the three-point line and four-for-five at the foul line.  Moravian had a 20-16 edge in rebounds in the first 20 minutes of the game, and the Greyhounds had four turnovers in the first half while Susquehanna had just two turnovers.  The Crusaders made 14-of-29 field goal attempts (48.3 percent), seven-of-17 three-pointers and their only free throw attempt in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Moravian would get the first point of the second half with free throw at the 18:52 mark while Susquehanna's junior center Harvey Sellinger hit a jumper to give the Crusaders a 38-28 lead 19 seconds later.  Hedley connected on two three-pointers around a lay-up by Johnson to push Susquehanna's lead to 44-30.

Strayhorn would connect on a three-pointer, and he followed it up two a pair of free throws to cut the Crusaders' advantage to ten points, 53-43, with 8:58 remaining.  Freshman guard Matt Bosch would hit a three-pointer at the 6:07 mark to bring the deficit to seven points at 53-46.  Wilson ended the Moravian run with a three-pointer before Johnson connected on a jumper for the Greyhounds.  Susquehanna would push the lead back to double figures and keep it there for the rest of the game.

Moravian made 11-of-22 field goal attempts (50 percent), five-of-11 three-pointers and six-of-11 free throws in the second half of the game.  Both squads had ten turnovers in the game, and Susquehanna finished the contest with a 36-31 advantage in rebounds.  The Crusaders were 11-for-26 from the field (42.3 percent), five-for-11 on three-pointers and nine-for-12 at the charity stripe in the second half. 

Cullen finished with a career high 21 points to lead the Greyhounds, and he grabbed 11 rebounds for his second career double-double.  Johnson tossed in 16 points to go with five boards for Moravian while Strayhorn finished with eight points and five assists.  Thieme scored six points and added three rebounds for the Greyhounds. 

Hedley led Susquehanna with a game high 25 points including seven three-pointers to go along with three rebounds and three assists.  Miller contributed 16 points for the Crusaders while Wilson had 11 points and six rebounds.  Sellinger also had six boards to go with five points. 

Moravian will return to action Wednesday, January 23rd when the Greyhounds travel to The University of Scranton in a Landmark Conference contest beginning at 7:00 p.m.