SELINSGROVE, PA (November 18, 2021) -- Junior Dominic Dunn came off the bench to score a season-high 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting, pouring in 17 of his 22 in the second half to help push the Susquehanna University men's basketball team to a 90-72 win over Muhlenberg College in non-conference action from O.W. Houts Gymnasium Thursday afternoon. 

The scoring output was the most for Dunn since his first year at Susquehanna all the way back on February 6, 2019 against Drew University when he tallied a career-high 27 points. The River Hawk (3-0) offensive unit was slow to get going in the opening half due to the 2-3 zone that the Mules were employing, as SU shot just 37.1 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The good thing is that SU did make 41.2 percent from deep in the period, while holding Muhlenberg to 39 percent shooting in taking a 33-28 edge at the break. 

Muhlenberg (2-3) earned the lead with 14:50 remaining in the first half after a layup by Tommy McGuire, pushing its advantage up to as much as nine at 22-13 with eight minutes to play in the opening stanza after a bucket by Nate Henty Brown. The River Hawks battled back to regain the lead at 27-26 following a lay-up from junior Wes Simons and led by five at the break thanks to back-to-back triples from Lukas Yurasits. The New York native led the way in the first half for SU with nine points, while first-year Steven Ressler was perfect on this three three-point attempts en route to nine points. 

Susquehanna continued to lead in the second half until Dan Gaines connected on a three-pointer to make it 43-42 in favor of the Mules as part of a 9-2 run that eventually saw MC lead 47-42 with 15 minutes remaining in the game. Susquehanna closed the gap with an 11-2 run to regain the lead for good though the SU edge stayed within five until under 10 minutes to play. With the score 64-60 Susquehanna, the River Hawks manufactured a 15-4 run to take a 15-point lead after a pair of free throws from Dunn. The lead swelled up to 20 points with 53 seconds to play as the River Hawks cruised to their third win of the season and seventh straight victory at home. 

Yurasits finished with 21 points on the night, going 7-of-16 on field goals while grabbing four rebounds as well. Simons tallied 14 points and six boards, going 7-of-13 from the floor, while posting a +/- of +22 on the evening. Junior Howie Rankine, Jr. followed his career night on Tuesday with another strong game Thursday, tallying 11 points, three boards and two assists. Senior point guard Danny Frauenheim only took one shot on the night, but was still strong as he tied his career-high with 12 assists. SU assisted on 21 of their 32 made buckets, while posting a 37-17 edge in bench scoring. 

The River Hawks also were were great on shooting from the right wing, as they went 7-of-11 from three-point attempts from the right side of the court Thursday evening. The combination of Ressler, Frauenheim, Dunn, Yurasits and Jay Martin played 14 minutes together and averaged an amazing 2.27 point per possession, which led all combinations with more than 10 minutes together. 

Muhlenberg saw Noah Watson pour in a team-high 20 points, while McGuire finished with 11 points. Justin Allen logged nine points and seven rebounds before fouling out, and Gaines ended with nine points, six rebounds and two assists. Muhlenberg shot 48.1 percent from the floor on the night, but turned the ball over 18 times which resulted in 19 points for Susquehanna. 

Up Next

• The River Hawks will continue their five-game home stand on Saturday afternoon, hosting Ithaca College (2-1) at 2 p.m. in O.W. Houts Gymnasium in more non-conference action November 20. 

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