Junior guard Joel Baez goes up for a lay-up in the first half versus Elizabethtown College in Johnston Hall this season. Photo by Kennedy Simons '28
Junior guard Joel Baez goes up for a lay-up in the first half versus Elizabethtown College in Johnston Hall this season. Photo by Kennedy Simons '28
February 4, 2026

Hounds Unable to Hold Off Second Half Rally by Scranton

SCRANTON, Pa. --- The Moravian University men’s basketball squad took a 16-point halftime lead at The University of Scranton; however, the Royals outscored the Hounds by 20 points in the second half as the Greyhounds fell 84-80 in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening.

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SCRANTON, Pa. --- The Moravian University men's basketball squad took a 16-point halftime lead at The University of Scranton; however, the Royals outscored the Hounds by 20 points in the second half as the Greyhounds fell 84-80 in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening.

How It Happened

  • The Blue & Grey scored first as senior forward Liam Cummiskey sank a jumper. After a three-pointer from Scranton, Moravian ran off seven straight points to build a 9-3 edge after a lay-up by junior guard/forward Riley Flood at the 14:39 mark. Moravian stretched the advantage into double digits at 18-7 on a lay-up from freshman guard Nico Pulieri with 12:15 on the clock
  • The Hounds controlled the test of the first half with the lead reaching 19 points at 40-21 with 4:36 remaining on a lay-up by Flood. Senior guard Chad Kratzer hit a three-pointer to end the half and send the Blue & Grey to the locker room with a 48-32 advantage
  • The squads traded baskets to start the second half; however, Moravian would maintain its double-digit lead for the first seven and a half minutes, leading 63-52 at that point after a Kratzer free throw. Scranton scored seven straight points to get within four, and the Royals made it a three-point game, 67-64, with 9:14 still to play
  • The Greyhounds would push the advantage back to six points at 72-66 on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Dylan Costa at the 7:51 mark while Scranton eventually knotted the score at 75-75 with 3:19 to play. Junior guard Joel Baez gave Moravian the edge again with a jumper with just under two minutes remaining, but the Royals scored seven of the next eight points to take control. Scranton sank four free throws in the final nine seconds to seal the contest 

Inside the Numbers

  • Moravian had three players net double figures with Kratzer and Ratcliff each scoring a game-high 19 points to go with eight rebounds. The eight rebounds move Ratcliff into a tie for second in program history with 817 boards
  • Baez contributed 10 points and two rebounds, four assists and three steals
  • Costa tossed in nine points while Cummiskey had seven points, eight boards and one assist
  • Pulieri and Flood combined for 11 points to go with four rebounds while sophomore guard JJ Kolumber had two point and two rebounds
  • Junior guard George Cutler also had two points, two boards and three assists while freshman forward Steve Conway added one point
  • The Hounds were 25-for-54 (46.3 percent) from the field, 9-for-30 on three-pointers and 21-for-28 at the foul line
  • Moravian totaled 36 rebounds with 26 points in the paint
  • It was a tale of two halves for the Blue & Grey as they shot 63.3 percent from the floor (19-for-30) and 46.2 percent on three-pointers (6-for-13) and then just 25 percent (6-for-24) from the field and 17.6 percent (3-for-17) beyond the three-point line in the final 20 minutes

Up Next for the Greyhounds

  • Saturday, February 7 at The Catholic University of America, 2:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, February 11 vs. Goucher College, 7:00 p.m.