BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team defeated Immaculata University, 72-63, Monday night. Senior guard D.J. Strayhorn finished with his second 24-point game in a row while also adding eight assists and two steals.

Senior forward Aaron Thieme tallied the first point of the game for Moravian off a free throw. Senior guard Todd Stokley answered for the Mighty Macs with a layup. Junior guard Kenny Gula followed that with a three-pointer from the wing for the 4-2 lead two minutes in.

A put-back layup from junior forward Adam Jones gave the lead back to Immaculata at 6-4. Junior center Blake English and freshman forward Matt Bosch hit back-to-back shots for the two-point lead, but freshman guard Tyreek Peeples answered for the Mighty Macs for the 9-8 lead four minutes into the game. Junior center Cameron Cullen hit a layup and senior guard Garrett Johnson drilled a three for the 13-11 Greyhound lead six minutes into the contest.

Junior forward Brandon Smith put Immaculata up 14-13 after making a layup while getting fouled, and converting the free throw. English responded with an easy lay-in, and a steal from Johnson lead to a layup the other way for sophomore guard Izel Dickerson for the 17-14 Moravian lead. Sophomore guard Xavier Brown knotted it at 17 with a three with 11:41 to play in the half.

Immaculata went up 22-17 after a two scores and a free throw from Smith. Back-to-back layups from English ended the Mighty Macs while making the score 22-21. One more layup from Johnson put the Hounds back on top 23-22 with 7:28 remaining in the first half.

Three minutes later, Strayhorn went on a 6-0 run of his own off a three-pointer, jumper and a free throw for the 33-26 lead. Four straight free throws from Immaculata brought the game closer, but a turnaround layup from English made the score 35-30 with three minutes left in the half.

Moravian then went on a quick 4-0 run in 18 seconds, with a layup from Bosch followed by a steal by Bosch that led to another lay-in by Strayhorn for the 39-32 lead with two minutes to play in the half. Immaculata added a bucket, but Moravian took a 39-34 lead into halftime.

The Greyhounds shot 44-percent from the field while the Mighty Macs shot 50-percent from the field in the first half. Moravian held the edge in rebounding at 17-16 while committing six less turnovers. English led the Hounds with ten points while Smith led Immaculata with ten points and six rebounds.

A three-pointer from straight away by Strayhorn got the first bucket of the second half for Moravian. Senior guard Nelson Torres added a bucket at the other end. A layup by Cullen was followed by a three-point play by Strayhorn off a layup and a free throw for the 47-36 lead, three minutes into the half. Cullen then went in for the easy layup to go up 49-36 five minutes in. English hit a three from the corner to cap Moravian's 10-0 run.

Junior forward Jerod Cain hit a jumper to end the Hounds run and make the score 52-38 with 13:35 left in the game. Cain added a lay-in after free throws from Brown to make the score 52-442 with 12:28 to play. Smith added a layup of his own, but Dickerson ended the Mighty Macs run with a jumper for the 54-44 lead with ten minutes left in the contest.

Brown and Smith added layups for Immaculata to bring them within six points of the lead at 55-49 with 7:25 remaining in the game. After trading scores, a three from the wing by Johnson put the Greyhounds back up by ten at 61-51. Peeples answered back with a three of his own to make the score 61-54 with 5:40 left in the game. Strayhorn then hit a jumper and three-pointer to put Moravian up 66-56 with 3:35 remaining in the game. Cullen then hit a reverse layup to put the Greyhounds up 70-56 with two minutes left in the game. The Greyhounds then went onto win 72-63.

English finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks while Cullen had 11 points and seven boards for Moravian. Johnson had eight points, six assists and three rebounds while Bosch had six points and two steals.

Immaculata was led by Smith, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. Brown put up 11 points and three steals while Torres had 12 points and three rebounds.

The Greyhounds shot 42-percent from the floor while the Mighty Macs shot 40-percent from the field. Immaculata held the rebounding advantage at 42-35 while also committing three less turnovers.

The Greyhounds return to the court on Wednesday, January 9th as they travel to Landmark Conference foe Drew University. The contest is set for 7 p.m.