GLENSIDE, PA (November 9, 2021) -- Senior post player Wes Simons poured in a career-high 18 points Tuesday evening, lifting the Susquehanna University men's basketball squad to an 82-66 season-opening victory at Arcadia University in action from Memorial Gymnasium. It was Susquehanna's first contest in 612 days, as last year's campaign was canceled due to CoVID-19. 

The River Hawks (1-0) saw their hosts score the first three points of the game but trailed for only 16 seconds in the contest, as Lukas Yurasits nailed a three-pointer to make the score 3-3 off of a nice assist from senior guard Danny Frauenheim. On the next possession, Frauenheim finished a nice driving layup to put the River Hawks ahead for good at 5-3 as part of an 13-2 run.

With the score 17-16 in favor of Susquehanna with 11:17 to play in the opening frame, the River Hawks went on a 12-0 spurt over 3:03 thanks to four points each from Howie Rankine, Jr. and Jay Martin to take a 29-16 edge. The Susquehanna advantage would swell all the way up to 17 at the break thanks to another Frauenheim bucket just before the buzzer to make it 40-23 after 20 minutes. 

After intermission, the Susquehanna lead got as high as 23 points after a jumper from Simons with 17:58 to go but the host Knights would slowly eat away at their deficit. With less than 10 minutes to go in the contest, as DJ Gardner made it an 11-point game with 8:55 to play but Jay Martin answered right back with a layup on the next possession. 

The River Hawk edge would hover right around 12 points for the next few minutes before fending off any late attempts by Arcadia for a comeback in cruising to the win. Simons got ot his career-high point total on 9-of-12 shooting, adding five rebounds in 21 minutes of action. His previous career-high was 16 points at Catholic back on Feb. 15, 2020. 

Martin finished with 14 points, 10 of which came in the first half, making seven of his 10 field goals on the night while adding five boards. Yurasits tallied 12 points and a team-best six rebounds, and Frauenheim stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three thefts. 

First-year Steven Ressler finished with nine points and five rebounds in his first collegiate contest, and fellow newcomer Cooper Haberern finished with eight points and a pair of rejections. The River Hawks shot 53.6 percent (37-69) on the contest, hitting on 35.7 percent from behind the arc. 

The difference was points off turnovers and points in the paint Tuesday, with Susquehanna holding a 17-2 edge in points off turnovers and a 54-38 advantage in points in the paint. SU turned the ball over only nine times on the night. 

Jalen Watkins posted 15 and a game-high nine rebounds for Arcadia, while Justin Money finished with a team-high 17 points for the Knights. AU shot 44.6 percent from the floor, but connected on only four of its 19 shots from deep. 

Up Next

• The River Hawks will get have six days to get set for their next game, hosting Lebanon Valley College for the home opener Tuesday, November 16 at 7 p.m. in O.W. Houts Gymnasium.