The Moravian College men's basketball team defeated Ursinus College Monday evening 75-61 in non-conference action. Junior guard Garrett Johnson led the way with a career-high 24 points to go with his seven boards and three assists.
The Greyhounds would get on the board first with an easy layup from senior forward Jeff Cullinan. The Bears would respond with a layup of their own from junior forward Jon Ward, but Johnson would respond with a deep three to put the Hounds up 5-2 early. Sophomore guard Kenny Gula would then make a layup, and on the next possession get fouled and make one free throw as Moravian went up 8-2 just three and half minutes into the game.
Ursinus would battle back, but after back-to-back threes from junior forward Aaron Thieme and sophomore forward Cameron Cullen, Moravian would find itself up 17-10 with 10:30 remaining in the first half. The Bears would then go on a 6-0 run to bring the score to 17-16 with just under five minutes left in the half. Back-to-back layups from Cullinan and Johnson would push Moravian's lead back to five. Ward would respond for Ursinus with a jumper, but Johnson answered right back with a three-pointer to make the score 24-18 with just under three minutes to go in the first half.
With a 1:23 remaining in the half, Thieme would hit a three to make the score 29-22. Ward for the Bears would then respond with a layup. The Greyhounds would get the ball in the final seconds of the half and Cullen would lineup a three and nail it as Moravian would take a 32-24 lead into halftime.
Ursinus would start a comeback in the beginning of the second half to come within two points of the lead after a three from sophomore guard Pat Vasturia. Moravian would answer right back, and after a layup from Johnson with 12:21 to go, the Greyhounds would go up by nine points, 42-33.
Moravian would continue to build its lead after two free throws from Thieme, the Hounds would go up 53-40 with eight minutes to go. The Greyhounds would dominate the rest of the second half while reaching their largest lead of 17 after a layup from Gula with three minutes to play in the game. Moravian would go 24-for-28 from the free throw line in the second half to close out Ursinus 75-61.
Cullinan scored 15 points while bringing down five rebounds, and Gula put up 11 points and four assists. Senior forward Marcus Hardy pulled down eight boards to go with his four points while Thieme scored eight points, and had seven rebounds. Freshman guard Izel Dickerson and Cullen each had six points.
Leading the way for the Bears was Ward with 20 points and nine rebounds while Vasturia had ten points and three assists. Freshman guard Phil Walker had seven points and seven boards while freshman forward Jermaine Kamara had nine rebounds and six points.
The Greyhounds shot 36.2 percent from the field while Ursinus shot 35.9 percent. Moravian also went 26-for-33 (78.8 percent) from the free throw line, a season best.
The Greyhounds open up Landmark Conference play Saturday, December 3rd when they travel to The University of Scranton for a 2 o'clock game. Moravian doesn't return home till 2012 when they host the 34th Annual Greyhound Starters Classic on January 2nd and 3rd.