BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team defeated New Jersey City University, 80-72, Thursday evening in the championship game of the 35th Annual Greyhound Classic. Sophomore guard Izel Dickerson was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after a career-night. Dickerson put up a career-high 23 points, four steals, four rebounds and an assist in the victory.

Sophomore forward Drew Marley put the first points on the boards with a turnaround layup for the Gothic Knights. Junior guard Kenny Gula responded with the floater off the glass to knot the contest at two. Senior guard Garrett Johnson then pulled up from long-range to put Moravian up 5-2, two and a half minutes in.

Sophomore guard Dakwan Simmons, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, hit a baseline jumper to make the score 5-4. Simmons came back with another baseline jumper to give NJCU a 6-5 lead five and a half minutes in. After some free throws and a basket the Gothic Knights went up 12-5, but junior center Cameron Cullen ended their run with a jumper.

Sophomore guard David Cole came back with a baseline jumper to put NJCU up 14-7 eight minutes into the game. Junior c enter Blake English hit a floater, and Dickerson followed that up with a deep three to make the score 14-13, New Jersey City. Simmons and English traded three-pointers to make the score 17-16 with ten minutes to play. Dickerson added another three to take a 19-17 lead with nine minutes remaining in the half.

A free throw followed by a layup from freshman guard Brent Burgess, Jr. put the Gothic Knights back up by one, but a rainbow three from senior guard D.J. Strayhorn, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, put the Greyhounds back up 22-20 with seven minutes left in the half. Burgess then tied the game after hitting the layup while getting fouled. He converted the three-point play for a 23-22 lead.

Both teams exchanged buckets down the stretch with NJCU pulling away, and taking a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

Moravian shot 38-percent from the field while New Jersey City shot 57-percent from the field in the first half. The Greyhounds committed three less turnovers while the Gothic Knights held the rebounding advantage at 16-13. Dickerson led Moravian in the half with eight points and two steals while Burgess led NJCU with eight points.

Senior forward Aaron Thieme got the first point of the second half with a free throw. Freshman guard Khalid Muhammad, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, then hit a three from the corner while getting fouled. He made the free throw for the four-point play to put NJCU up 37-28 one minute into the half. Strayhorn came back with a layup to make the score 37-30.

Cullen took a hail marry pass from Strayhorn and hit the layup to make the score 40-35, New Jersey City, four minutes into the half. Junior guard Asmar Edwards came back with a layup while getting fouled. He made the free throw to go up 43-35 for NJCU. Freshman forward Matt Bosch then drove to the hoop for the bucket while getting fouled. He missed the free throw as the Hounds were still down 44-38 seven minutes into the second half.

After trading free throws, Strayhorn hit a three from straight away to bring Moravian within five points at 52-47 with 8:44 remaining in the game. Cullen then hit a hook shot on the next possession to make the score 52-49. A three-pointer from the corner by Gula knotted the game back up at 52 with 7:49 left in the game.

Both teams exchanged buckets over the next three minutes as two free throws from Strayhorn made the score 60-59, Gothic Knights. A put-back layup from Muhammad put NJCU up 63-59 with 3:47 to play. After two free throws from English, Dickerson drove to the hoop on the next possession for the layup while getting fouled. He converted the free throw to tie the game at 64 with two minutes to play.

With under a minute to go, Dickerson took a rebound and drove to the hoop while getting fouled. He made both free throws to put the Greyhounds up 66-64, their first lead since five minutes left in the first half. Freshman forward Matt Brewer then hit a layup for NJCU to tie the game at 66 with 32 seconds to play. Gula hit two clutch free throws to put Moravian up 68-66 with 13 seconds left. Cole followed with two clutch free throws of his own to tie it up at 68 and send the game into overtime.

Cole tallied the first points of overtime with two free throws for the 70-68 lead. Dickerson answered with a layup, and then a steal and another layup for the 72-70 lead with 2:47 left in overtime. Dickerson added another lay-in for the four point Greyhound lead.

Cullen added another layup for the 76-70 lead with just under a minute to play. Muhammad then hit a layup for NJCU with 43 seconds to play. Dickerson closed the game out with a layup while getting fouled. He converted the free throw for an 80-72 advantage. Moravian went onto win by that score.

Strayhorn put up 15 points and two assists while English had 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks for Moravian. Cullen added ten points and eight rebounds while Gula had nine points and three rebounds.

Muhammad finished with 14 points, seven boards and four steals while Simmons had ten points and four assists for New Jersey City. Marley put up eight points and two steals while Burgess had 12 points and four steals.

Moravian shot 46-percent from the field while New Jersey City shot 36-percent from the field in the game. Both teams combined to shot 77 free throws in the game with the Greyhounds going 29-of-42 while the Gothic Knights went 24-of-35. NJCU held the rebounding edge at 40-37 while committing two less turnovers.

This is Moravian's second win over New Jersey City with the last coming back in 1984 when the Greyhounds defeated the Gothic Knights, 84-83, in the ECAC Metro Championship Game.

Also making the All-Tournament Team was junior forward Kyle Latorre from Kean University, and junior guard Lance Harris from Valley Forge Christian College.

The Greyhounds return to action on Saturday, January 5th as they travel to Landmark Conference foe Goucher College. The contest is scheduled for 7 p.m.