Greyhounds Take Winning Streak Into Break
BETHLEHEM, PA - The Moravian College men's basketball team won its sixth straight game and headed into the semester break with a 70-51 non-conference victory over Swarthmore College in Johnston Hall Monday evening.
The Greyhounds have equaled their six-game winning streak in 1996-97, the longest since Moravian won seven straight games back in 1982-83.
The Garnet scored the first basket of the game on a lay-up by Steve Wolf but it would be Swarthmore's only lead of the contest as the Greyhounds ran off 12 straight points to take a 12-2 lead on a pair of free throws by senior forward Mark Franzyshen (Somerset, NJ/Immaculata HS) at the 14:54 mark. Swarthmore pulled within six points twice, finally at 20-14 before another 12-point Greyhound run put Moravian up 32-14 with 8:14 to play in the first half, Moravian's largest lead of the first 20 minutes.
The Greyhounds would head to the locker room with a 44-30 lead after shooting 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) from the floor, eight of six behind the three-point line and four of nine at the foul line. Moravian also had a 23-17 advantage in rebounds and had nine first half turnovers while forcing the Garnet into 12 turnovers. Swarthmore was 12 of 28 from the field, two of four behind the three-point line and four of eight at the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes.
The Greyhounds kept the lead in double digits for almost all of the second half except a minute and a half when Swarthmore had the lead down to nine points. Moravian made nine of 22 field goal attempts (40.9 percent), one of six three-pointers and seven of eight free throws in the second half, and the Greyhounds finished the contest with a 41-33 edge in rebounds. The Garnet struggled shooting the ball in the second half, making just seven of 26 field goal attempts, four of 15 three-pointers and three of six free throws.
Moravian had three players in double figures with senior guard Ryan Miller (Easton, PA/Easton HS) netting a game high 13 points to go with three rebounds after missing the last two games with an injury. Senior forward Chris Earley (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan HS) tossed in 11 points with a game high nine rebounds, three assists and two steals while senior forward Eric Whitman (Blairstown, NJ/Notre Dame East Stroudsburg {PA} HS) netted ten points with seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
Sophomore forward Eric Weaver (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury HS) and freshman forward Chris Cullen (East Islip, NY/East Islip HS) each had nine points for the Greyhounds with Weaver adding three rebounds. Franzyshen had six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Moravian victory while freshman guard Maurice Young (Philadelphia, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) contributed five points, three assists and three steals. Senior guard Chris Bays (Hackettstown, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS) hit a three-pointer for the Greyhounds while freshman forward Alvin Adams had two rebounds and two blocked shots.
Guard Matt Kurman led Swarthmore with ten points while center Ian McCormick had nine points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Wolf and guard/forward Ryan Carmichael each had eight points for the Garnet with Wolf adding five rebounds. Forwards Sam Lacy and Raul Ordonez each scored seven points with Lacy contributing four rebounds and three blocked shots.