Despite Halftime Lead, Men's Basketball Falls At Moravian, 81-65

BETHLEHEM, PA (Dec. 7, 2017) - The Moravian College men's basketball team came back from an eight-point deficit to post an 81-65 victory over visiting Penn State Lehigh Valley in non-conference action at Johnston Hall Wednesday evening.

Penn State Lehigh Valley opened up a 4-0 lead to start the game before the Moravian got on the scoreboard. The Nittany Lions eventually pushed their lead to eight points, 20-12, with 11:43 left in the first half. The Greyhounds answered back with a 13-4 run as Moravian had their first lead of the night, 25-24, on a pair of free throws with 4:04 before the intermission. Moravian tied the game at 27-27 but the Nittany Lions scored the final four points of the half to head to the locker room with a 31-27 advantage.

The difference in the game came down to Moravian's shooting behind the three-point line and at the charity stripe in the second half when the Greyhounds were 9-for-18 from long range and 11-of-12 at the foul line. The Hounds shot 40.6 percent (28-of-69) overall in the game and finished 12-for-33 on three-pointers and 13-for-16 at the foul line. Moravian's pressure defense forced the Nittany Lions into 20 turnovers in the game, ten in each half.

Penn State Lehigh Valley opened the scoring in the second half and pushed its edge back to eight points, 37-29, just over a minute into the half. The Hounds fought back and pulled within a point, 39-38, on a three-pointer with just under 15 minutes left to play, and Moravian connected on two free throws as Moravian moved ahead, 42-41, with 13:58 remaining. Moravian would connect on a three-pointer at 13:08 to give the Hounds the lead for good, 45-43, and ignite a 17-3 run that ended with another shot from beyond the arc again for a 59-46 advantage with 8:48 remaining. The Blue and Grey would push the edge to a game-high 17 points on a three-pointer with 5:57 to go.

Lehigh Valley was lead by Zach Thomas and James Middleton with 12 points a piece. Lehigh Valley will close out of the semester with its final game of 2017 this Friday when they host PSUAC opponent PSU Wilkes Barre at 8 PM at Lehigh Carbon Community College.