Tues., February 11: Susquehanna 75, Juniata 56

SELINSGROVE, PA – Junior guard Nick Griffiths hit five three-pointers to become Susquehanna’s career leader in threes as Susquehanna moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Commonwealth Conference with a 75-56 victory over Juniata in men’s basketball action at Houts Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Griffiths (Shamokin, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.) broke the record of 160 set from 1995 to 1999 by Tony Mennito with his final three of the night with 1:08 remaining as the Crusaders (14-7 overall, 8-3 Commonwealth Conference) held Juniata to just 27 percent shooting from the field to improve to 8-1 at home this season.

Susquehanna is tied with Moravian and Elizabethtown at 8-3 in the Commonwealth standings, as Elizabethtown routed Moravian 97-64 on Tuesday evening to create the deadlock with three games remaining. The Crusaders travel to Moravian to face the Greyhounds next Wednesday, February 19.

Junior guard Chris Zimmerman (Coal Township, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.) added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Crusaders used an 18-1 second-half run to defeat the Eagles (11-10, 6-5 Commonwealth) for the eighth straight time and 19th time in the last 20 meetings between the schools.

Travis Boyd led Juniata with 12 points off the bench while Neil Holloway added 10 for the Eagles, who lost starting forward Greg Ebert to an ankle injury just five minutes into the game and shot just 5-for-22 from behind three-point range in the game.

Meanwhile, the Crusader defense stepped to the front once again as Susquehanna rejected 11 Juniata shots on the evening, including a career-high five blocks by junior forward Phil Sander (Hancock, NY/Walton Central H.S.) and three rejections from freshman center Walter Fowler (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley H.S.) to tie the single-season record of 54 blocked shots set by Bruce Merklinger in 1985-86.

Susquehanna led 32-30 at the half following a Fowler dunk with 17 seconds left in the half, but the Eagles held a 39-38 lead with 12:12 remaining after a Jeff Detwiler three-pointer before the Crusaders busted loose to put the game out of reach.

During the 18-1 run that spanned nearly six minutes, Zimmerman and Griffiths scored five points each while senior forward Tim Hurd added four free throws. Hurd (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills H.S.) shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line on the evening as Susquehanna converted 12-of-14 foul shots as a team.

Sophomore forward Bubba Mills (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic H.S.) tallied eight points and a game-high nine rebounds to help Susquehanna to a 47-36 edge on the glass. Hurd added seven rebounds while Sander swiped five in just 11 minutes of action.

Sat., February 8: Susquehanna 74, Albright 54

READING, PA – Juniors Dan Rathmell and Phil Sander each came off the Susquehanna bench to score a team-high 12 points as the Crusaders won for the eighth time in their last night games with a 74-54 victory at Albright in Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday night.

Senior forward Tim Hurd (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills H.S.) added 11 points while sophomore forward Bubba Mills (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic H.S.) celebrated his 20th birthday by adding 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds as the Crusaders (13-7 overall, 7-3 Commonwealth) led by double figures from the midway point of the first half and held Albright to just 35.2 percent shooting.

The victory, combined with Elizabethtown’s 81-72 loss at Juniata on Saturday, moves Susquehanna into a tie for second place in the Commonwealth with the Blue Jays, just one game behind front-running Moravian at 8-2. Susquehanna plays at Moravian in the regular season’s next-to-last game on February 19.

While Rathmell (Windsor, NY/Windsor H.S.) had led the Crusaders in scoring as recently as Wednesday night with 17 in an 80-65 win over Lebanon Valley, Sander (Hancock, NY/Walton Central H.S.) had never held scoring honors for Susquehanna in his career until he shot 4-for-8 from the field and added four foul shots against the Lions (4-15, 3-7 Commonwealth).

Sander, whose previous season high was nine points against Albright in the teams’ first meeting on January 18, also added a career-high four blocked shots as the Crusaders rejected 12 Lion field goal attempts on the evening.

Elu Lawrence came off the bench to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds for Albright, while Tyler Bennett added 11 points, including three three-pointers. However, the Lions committed 20 turnovers and hit just 9-of-18 foul shots in falling to the Crusaders for the fourth straight time.

Susquehanna bolted to a 25-13 lead following a pair of three-pointers from Rathmell sandwiched around a dunk from freshman center Walter Fowler, and the lead grew to 40-23 at halftime as the Crusaders held Albright to just 29.6 percent shooting during the opening half.

In the second half, the Lions pulled within 12 on three occasions but were unable to keep the Crusaders away from the foul line, as Susquehanna converted 11-of-15 free throw attempts in the half and 21-of-32 from the stripe in the game.

Junior guard Nick Griffiths (Shamokin, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.), who picked up two fouls in the game’s first 2:07, played just 14 minutes in the game and scored a season-low three points. His lone basket, a three-pointer with 4:46 to play, was the 156th of his career to pull Griffiths within four of the program record of 160 set from 1996 to 1999 by Tony Mennito.

Fowler (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley H.S.) picked up four fouls in just 10 minutes of action but still contributed eight points, four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots to increase his season total to 51 rejections, just three shy of the single-season school record of 54 set in 1985-86 by Bruce Merklinger.

Next Game: Tuesday, February 11 vs. Juniata, 8 p.m.

Wed., February 5: Susquehanna 80, Lebanon Valley 65

SELINSGROVE, PA – Junior guard Dan Rathmell (Windsor, NY/Windsor H.S.) came off the bench to score 17 points and grab a career-high eight rebounds as Susquehanna defeated Lebanon Valley 80-65 in Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball action at Houts Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

Senior forward Tim Hurd added 14 points while junior guard Chris Zimmerman and sophomore forward Bubba Mills chipped in with 12 points apiece as the Crusaders (12-7 overall, 6-3 Commonwealth) committed just nine turnovers to defeat the Flying Dutchmen for just the fifth time in the last 24 meetings between the schools and snap a five-game home losing streak to Lebanon Valley.

Darren Pugh led Lebanon Valley (8-12 overall, 3-6 Commonwealth) with game highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds, including the 1000th point of his career on a layup with 1:06 left in the first half, while Evan Harlor drilled five three pointers en route to 17 points.

“I was anxious to see how we were going to play coming off of Saturday’s loss (at Elizabethtown), and I felt like we did a good job taking care of business,” said Crusader head coach Frank Marcinek, who picked up his 195th career victory. “I really liked our intensity throughout and I felt like we played as smart of a game offensively as we have all year.”

Lebanon Valley took an 18-14 lead on a pair of threes by Harlor with 5:49 left in the first half, but Rathmell and Mills (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic H.S.) responded from behind the arc to push the Crusaders on top 22-18 with 4:14 left in the half.

Susquehanna carried a 28-24 lead into halftime despite shooting just 33 percent from the field (11-for-33) and 44 percent from the foul line (4-for-9) in the opening half. Meanwhile, Pugh tallied just three points and four rebounds in the first half as part of a 30 percent performance from the floor (9-for-30) from the Dutchmen.

In the second half, the Crusaders fell behind 33-31 after a Harlor layup with 16:22 left before the Crusaders reeled off nine straight points – including five by Zimmerman – to move ahead 38-33 with 13:38 to play.

Lebanon Valley was within five at 44-39 with 11:34 left, but Rathmell hit a three-pointer to extend the Crusader lead to eight and spark an 11-0 run that culminated with a Hurd layup with 8:50 remaining that left the Crusaders in control at 55-39.

The Dutchmen would come no closer than 11 as the Crusaders hit 9-of-10 from the foul line in the final 1:40 to finish the game 19-of-29 from the charity stripe.

Zimmerman (Coal Township, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.) and junior forward Phil Sander (Hancock, NY/Walton Central H.S.) dished out four assists apiece for the Crusaders while Hurd (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills H.S.) pulled six rebounds as Susquehanna held a 46-38 edge on the glass.

Susquehanna freshman center Walter Fowler (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley H.S.), ranked 13th in Division III in blocked shots per game at 2.56, rejected three shots despite playing seven minutes because of foul trouble. Fowler, who has 49 blocks this season, needs five to tie the program single-season record of 54 set during 1985-86 by Bruce Merklinger.

Junior guard Nick Griffiths (Shamokin, PA/Shamokin Area H.S.) hit just 3-of-8 from the field and finished with nine points on the evening, but he hit one three-pointer to increase his career total to 155 and move within five of the program record of 160 set from 1996-99 by Tony Mennito.