Susquehanna Men's Basketball

(13-12 overall, 10-4 Landmark Conference)

Patch Leads Crusaders with 10 Points in Landmark Semi-final Loss against Juniata

Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Junior Joel Patch (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead Susquehanna (13-12) in a 77-49 loss in the Landmark Semi-final game versus Juniata (17-9) at O.W. Houts Gymnasium. Juniata will face Scranton in Scranton, Pa. on Saturday in the championship game.

Despite trailing 42-21 in the first 20 minutes of play, Susquehanna opened the second half with a 14-2 run to cut the margin to nine at 44-35 with 13:28 remaining. During the six-plus time span, the Crusaders forced fived turnovers and held the Eagles to 1-of-5 shooting from the field, while going 4-for-5 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe. SU would not get closer than nine the rest of the way, however.

For the Eagles, Brian Cannon led all scorers in the game with 21 points and eight boards. Garrett Bull had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Jeff Berkey and Eric Mueseler tallied 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

Juniata held SU to a 29.1 percent shooting clip and posted a 38-23 advantage on the boards.

Despite the loss, SU finished the season having a representative in the top five of six Landmark statistical categories. Josh Robinson (Mahwah, N.J./River Dell) was first in scoring with 21.7 points per game, fourth in free throw-percentage at 82.2 percent, and fourth in three-pointers (2.25 apg). Kevin Cuff (Pottsville, Pa./Nativity B.V.M.) held the fifth spot in scoring averaging 15.1 points per outing. Patch finished second in the league in rebounds (7.2 rpg), and third in field goal percentage at 55.3 percent. Point-guard Bryan Majors (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) concluded the season as second in the Landmark in assists with a 4.42 per game average.

Cuff finished his collegiate career totaling 1,165 career points and 433 rebounds to move him to No. 20 on Susquehanna’s all-time scoring list. He was recently named to the 2007-08 First-Team All Landmark Conference, and was a 2006-07 Middle-Atlantic Conference First-Team selection.

In spite of missing the last four games with an injury, Robinson was named the 2007-08 Landmark Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All Conference selection. He finished the season with 433 points (21.7 ppg), and totaled 1,070 career points, which placed him at No. 26 on Susquehanna’s all time scoring list.

Brad Okonak (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) finished his career with 131 total three-pointers, which places him at No. 6 in Susquehanna’s all-time three point category.