The United States Merchant Marine Academy rallied from a five-point deficit early in the second half to post a 78-60 Landmark Conference win over host Moravian College Saturday evening in Johnston Hall, snapping the Greyhounds' four-game winning streak.
Senior guard Tom Izzo opened the game with a three-pointer for the Mariners but Moravian scored seven straight points to take a 7-3 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Garrett Johnson with 17:49 in the half. USMMA answered with a 9-0 run to take a 12-7 lead on an Izzo free throw at 13:05.
The Mariners led 16-11 after two free throws from senior forward Richard Roach at 11:26 but six straight from Moravian including a pair of free throws by sophomore center Blake English put the Greyhounds back in front, 17-16, at 9:34. USMMA answered again with a 10-2 run to take a 26-19 advantage on a lay-up by Roach with 5:17 left in the half. Moravian tied the game 26-26 on a jumper by sophomore guard D.J. Strayhorn with 3:32 to go in the half, and a three-pointer by Johnson put the Greyhounds up 29-28 with 1:22 until the intermission.
Junior forward Jeff Cullinan hit two free throws with two seconds left in the first half to send Moravian to the locker room with a 33-32 lead. The Greyhounds were 12-for-26 from the floor (46.2 percent) from the floor, three-for-eight behind the three-point line and a perfect six-for-six at the foul line in the opening 20 minutes, and Moravian had a 14-13 edge in rebounds. The Greyhounds did commit 12 turnovers in the first half while USMMA had ten turnovers. The Mariners were nine-for-21 from the field (42.9 percent), one-for-five on three-pointers and 13-for-17 at the foul line.
Moravian scored the opening four points of the second half for a 37-32 lead after two free throws by English with 17:26 to go. Johnson hit a lay-up to put the Greyhounds ahead 44-40 with 14:10 on the clock before a three-point play from freshman guard Michael Farace put USMMA back in the lead, 45-44 at the 13:10 mark. Moravian retook the lead on a lay-up from senior forward Chris Cullen 14 seconds later before the Mariners rook the lead for good on a lay-up from Roach at 12:37.
The Greyhounds trailed just 53-52 after a Cullen lay-up at 8:31, but Moravian scored just eight points the rest of the game. USMMA pushed the lead into double figures on a jumper from freshman guard Jeffrey Mark with 2:58 to play, and it reached 20 points on a lay-up by sophomore guard Josh Beck with 34 seconds to go.
The Mariners were hot from the floor in the second half, making 20-of-31 field goal attempts (64.5 percent), two-of-five three-pointers and four-of-five free throws. USMMA had just 14 turnovers in the game while forcing Moravian into 20 turnovers. Moravian struggled shooting the ball in the final 20 minutes, making ten-of-27 field goal attempts (37 percent), two-of-12 three-pointers and five-of-nine free throws. The Greyhounds did have a 30-29 edge in rebounds for the game.
Johnson led three Greyhounds in double figures with 15 points to go with six rebounds and three assists while Cullen tossed in 13 points and grabbed seven boards. English finished with ten points, six rebounds and six blocked shots for Moravian while Cullinan had eight points, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Strayhorn had seven assists and six points for the Greyhounds while freshman guard Kenny Gula tossed in four points.
Senior forward Matt Hueber led USMMA and all scorers with 20 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists while Izzo finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists. Roach netted 12 points for the Mariners while Mark had ten points off of the bench. Junior guard Kevin Kerr had eight points while freshman forward Nick Sergio contributed six points and four boards.