Muhlenberg men's basketball team shuts down Moravian

Austin Curry and Malique Killing Muhlenberg's Austin Curry, left, and Malique Killing.

Muhlenberg men's basketball coach Scott McClary praised

's senior leadership.

But it was his own upperclassmen who were the difference in leading the Mules to a  71-52 victory over the Greyhounds today at Memorial Hall.

"(The Moravian starters) have played a lot of minutes together and they're having a great year," McClary said. "It's a well-coached team. They've been down I think three games in a row at halftime and won the second half in all three of them by double digits.

"So we knew they were going to take a shot at coming back and they did. I'm real proud that we were able to handle that."

Muhlenberg senior captain Matt O'Hara talked about competing for 40 minutes.

"We know how big this rivalry is to us and to them," O'Hara said. "We just came out and played a great game. We played all 40 minutes."

The Mules held a nine-point halftime lead against Johns Hopkins last Saturday, but ultimately lost 76-74.

Junior center Kevin Hargrove wasn't about to let it happen again after Muhlenberg, which improved to 6-3, took a 29-22 lead into halftime against the Greyhounds.

Moravian (6-2) used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to whittle a 16-point deficit down to six (49-43).

After Muhlenberg's Alec Stavetski made three free throws to make it 52-43 with 7:45 remaining, Hargrove used a timeout to address his teammates.

"First thing I said to the fellas was that we couldn't come back out like we did against Hopkins," he said. "I said, 'We gotta keep locking them down all game,' and that's what we did. I'm proud of the team."

The Greyhounds scored a basket out of the timeout to close to 52-45, but Muhlenberg used its own 10-0 run to put the game away. Hargrove scored six of his nine points during the run. He fell one point and one block shy of a triple double as he had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Malique Killing had 23 points on a 10-of-16 effort from the field for the Mules, Austin Curry added 14 and Stavetski had 13, while O'Hara pitched in with four points and 10 assists.

Muhlenberg scored the game's first five points as Moravian missed its first four shots from the field. But as they did all game long, the Greyhounds responded and pulled to within 7-6 on back-to-back 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor.

However, the Mules responded with a 7-0 run to make it 14-6 and never led by fewer than two points the rest of the game.

"We didn't play well," Moravian head coach

said. "Muhlenberg played very well. They basically executed the things they wanted to execute, and we did not execute the things we wanted to execute. So when that happens with two teams that are evenly matched, you wind up with the team that executes better winning."

and

led the Greyhounds with 12 points each, while Cameron Cullen added four points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

Muhlenberg shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field, and held Moravian to 30.6 percent (22-of-72).

"Relieved to win this game," McClary said. "It's an intense rivalry, It's a fun rivalry. They are always aggressive games. (Moravian is) having a great year. We knew it was not going to be easy. It's a great win for our program."

MORAVIAN (52 )

Thieme 2-5 0-0 6, Cullen 2-7 0-0 4, Johnson 5-12 0-0 12, Gula 1-5 0-0 3, Strayhorn 5-20 0-0 12, Weinert 0-0 0-0 0, Bosch 2-2 0-1 4, Dilts 1-1 0-0 3, Dickerson 2-9 0-0 4, Pankonien 0-0 0-0 0, Kashmer 0-0 0-0 0, Bonavita 0-1 0-0 0, English 2-10 0-1 4. Totals: 22-72 0-2 52.

MUHLENBERG (71)

Bovino 4-12 0-0 8, Hargrove 4-6 1-2 9, Killing 10-16 0-0 23, Curry 5-12 0-0 14, O'Hara 2-7 0-0 4, Lagomarsino 0-0 0-0 0, Albano 0-1 0-0 0, Marchetti 0-0 0-0 0, Lerner 0-1 0-0 0, Stavetski 2-5 8-9 13. Totals: 27-60 9-11 71.

Moravian (6-2)                                     22           30--52

Muhlenberg (6-3)                                 29           42--71

3-point goals -- Thieme 2, Johnson 2, Strayhorn 2, Gula, Dilts; Curry 4, Killing 3, Stavetski. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Moravian 38 (Cullen 10); Muhlenberg 44 (Hargrove 13). Assists -- Moravian 9 (Gula 3); Muhlenberg 17 (O'Hara 10). Total fouls -- Moravian 9, Muhlenberg 8. A -- 523.

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