BRIDGEWATER, Va. --- Senior forward Brandon McGuire became the 21st player in Moravian College men's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points with a 22-point effort as he helped the Greyhounds win their seventh straight contest with a 94-92 double-overtime victory versus host Bridgewater (Va.) College in the opening round of the Don Glick Classic Friday evening.
The Hounds, who are now 7-1 on the season, entered the game shooting just 62.2 percent at the foul line but would go 31-of-40 (77.5) at the charity stripe versus the Eagles including 11-of-13 in the two overtimes for the win. Moravian also had a 53-50 advantage in rebounds and forced Bridgewater into 20 turnovers while committing just 17 miscues.
McGuire led five Greyhounds in double figures and now has 1,006 points in his Moravian career. McGuire added a game-high 16 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and the 25th of his career, and he added two assists and three steals and is tenth in school history with 589 rebounds. Sophomore forward Oneil Holder tossed in a season-high 20 points including going 14-of-16 at the foul line to go along with eight rebounds while senior guard Sean Hanna added 14 points while shooting 8-of-10 at the foul line to go with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
Sophomore guard Jimmy Murray and freshman guard C.J. Barnes each contributed 10 points off of the bench with Barnes adding two rebounds. Junior guard Matt Cardonne had eight points while sophomore guard Will Brazukas added four points, four rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Isaiah Jennings had four rebounds, three assists and two points in the victory while sophomore forward Jake McGee added three points and a pair of boards. Freshman forward John Hargraves also added two rebounds.
The Eagles scored first and jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. Bridgewater was ahead 15-9 before a 5-0 run by Moravian closed the gap to a point, 15-14, on a Jennings free throw with 12:54 to play in the first half. The Greyhounds would take their first lead of the game, 20-19, on a three-pointer by Murray a little over three and a half minutes later.
Bridgewater answered back and retook a six-point lead, 26-20, with just under five minutes until the intermission. The Blue and Grey countered again and moved back in front, 31-30, on a three-pointer by Barnes with 2:45 on the clock. McGuire made the lead 34-30 at the two-minute mark with a lay-up, however; the Eagles scored the final four points of the half to send the teams to the locker room tied at 34-34.
The Eagles started the scoring in the second half as well as the squads traded the lead early in the half. With the score knotted at 42-42, Holder hit a jumper and Cardonne added a three-pointer to give the Greyhounds a 47-42 advantage. Another jumper by Cardonne gave Moravian its largest lead of the game at six points, 50-44, with just over 10 minutes left in regulation.
Bridgewater fought back and the teams went back to trading the lead until the Blue and Grey had a four-point edge, 68-64, with 2:04 left to play. However, Moravian did not score again in regulation as the Eagles tied the contest with a free throw with 22 seconds left. Bridgewater had a final three before the buzzer but missed as the teams head to overtime tied at 68-68.
The Eagles opened the scoring in the first overtime but lay-ups by McGuire and Holder had the Greyhounds leading 72-70 with 2:06 on the clock. Moravian pushed the lead to four points twice, the second time at 77-73 after a pair of Holder free throws. Bridgewater scored on its next possession to close within two points. Hanna drew a foul with 11 ticks on the clock, and with a chance to make it a four-point game; Hanna hit just one free throw. Bridgewater grabbed the rebound and raced down for a late three-pointer to second the game to a second overtime tied at 78-78.
Holder would get the Greyhounds on the board first in the second overtime with a pair of free throws. Moravian pulled ahead by four points, 86-82, on a lay-up from Hanna, and a three-pointer by Cardonne had the Blue and Grey holding a five-point edge, 89-84, with 2:16 still on the clock. Bridgewater scored the next six points to pull ahead 90-89 before Holder calmly hit two free throws to put Moravian back in front, 91-90, with 56 seconds remaining. After the Eagles sank two free throws to take the lead after the 17th tie in the contest, Hanna hit a driving lay-up for a 93-92 lead. Bridgewater was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession, giving the ball back to Moravian.
Hanna would be back at the foul line in the same situation as the first overtime with just under five seconds to play. He connected on the first shot for a 94-92 lead but his second shot missed, however, Jennings was there to grabbed the offensive rebound this time and run out the clock for the Greyhounds' seventh-straight win. The last time Moravian won seven straight games was during the 2007-08 season when the program had a nine-game winning streak.
Moravian will be right back in action on the second day of the Don Glick Classic at Bridgewater as the Greyhounds are scheduled to play Eastern Mennonite University in the second round at 2:00 p.m.