Men Set to Host Drew in Landmark Conference Semifinal on February 21 in Johnston Hall
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men’s basketball team has earned the second seed in the 2018 Landmark Conference Tournament and will host third seed Drew University in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 21 with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's basketball team has earned the second seed in the 2018 Landmark Conference Tournament and will host third seed Drew University in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 21 with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. All youth under the age of 10 are admitted free as are all students, faculty and staff with a valid ID from any of the eight Landmark Conference institutions. College students without a Landmark school ID and seniors are $3.
The Greyhounds, who are the two seed in the tournament for the second straight winter, are 18-7 overall this season and completed the Landmark regular season with a 10-4 mark while the Rangers are 16-9 overall and 9-5 in Landmark action. During the regular season, each team won on its home floor with Drew capturing an 87-80 victory in Madison, New Jersey on January 10 and the Greyhounds winning 93-81 in Johnston Hall on February 14.
Wednesday's other semifinal game has top seed Juniata College hosting fourth seed The Catholic University of America at 5:30 p.m. The top remaining seed will host the 2018 Landmark Conference title game on Saturday, February 24 at a time to be announced with an automatic berth to the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
Moravian Head Coach Justin Potts has the Greyhounds in the postseason for the second straight year in just his third season back at the school, and he has a 48-30 career record. The Blue and Grey are making their fourth trip to the Landmark Conference Tournament, and the Greyhounds have reached the 18-win plateau for just the eighth time in 81 seasons at Moravian.
The Hounds enter the postseason having won four straight in Johnston Hall with at least 93 points in each game. The Greyhounds also begin the postseason having already set two single season school records – most three-pointers with 291 and most steals with 289, and Moravian needs 16 assists and three blocked shots to break those single season records as well. The Blue and Grey set marks with 22 three-pointers and 27 assists in a game versus Catholic on January 13.
Leading the squad on the court have been juniors guard Jimmy Murray and forward Oneil Holder, who became the 22nd and 23rd players to reach 1,000 career points at Moravian earlier this month. Murray is tossing in 17.5 points per game to go with 59 rebounds, 56 three-pointers, 54 assists and 37 steals, and he was selected to the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Team of the Year, while Holder is contributing 17.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest with 40 assists, 37 steals, 33 blocked shots and 15 three-pointers.
Sophomore forward C.J. Barnes is netting 10.4 points and grabbing 3.3 rebounds per outing to go along with 40 three-pointers, 28 steals, 12 assists and eight blocked shots while junior guard Nicholas Casazza is scoring 9.8 points per game with 65 three-pointers, 48 rebounds, 40 assists and 35 steals. Sophomore guard Elijah Davis is contributing 7.5 points per contest with 56 rebounds, 33 three-pointers, 32 steals, 28 assists and 11 blocked shots while senior guard Matt Cardonne has an average of 6.0 points per outing with 39 rebounds, 33 three-pointers, 21 assists and 10 steals.
Junior guard Will Brazukas leads the Greyhounds with 93 assists to go with a scoring average of 5.0 points per game, 47 rebounds. 22 steals and 10 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Mike Martino has dished out 80 assists to go with 69 points, 56 rebounds, 24 steals and 13 three-pointers while sophomore forward Addis Ralph has 97 points, 60 rebounds and 21 blocked shots. Senior forward Khalil Rhett has contributed 78 rebounds, 65 points, 26 steals and 19 assists while freshman guard Matt O'Connor has 51 points, 19 rebounds, 17 steals, 11 three-pointers and 10 assists in his debut season.
Freshman guard Keith Otto has 40 points and 14 rebounds for the Hounds while freshman guard Shon Wilson has added 30 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals. Senior forward Aaron Brown has 16 rebounds and six points in his return to the program this winter while sophomore guard Tyron Brown has seven points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
