By Mike Henken, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna men’s basketball team picked up a convincing win on Saturday, beating Goucher 73–50 at O.W. Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Sophomore Matt LaCorte led the River Hawks with 21 points and 12 rebounds, putting together another strong performance following his 24-point, 12-rebound outing against Moravian College last week in Bethlehem, Pa.
“I attribute [the strong performances] to my confidence, and my confidence is high because of my teammates,” LaCorte said. “They’ve had my back the entire year and that trust is what boosts my confidence.”
Senior guard Tyler Hoagland and junior forward Zach Knecht also contributed to Susquehanna’s victory over Goucher, each adding eight points while freshman guard/forward Jaden Martin had 11 points and five rebounds of his own.
The River Hawks came out firing early, jumping out to a quick 10–2 lead. LaCorte led this early burst, scoring eight of Susquehanna’s first 10 points to begin the contest.
Throughout the duration of the first half, the River Hawks remained in control of the game, outplaying and outscoring the Gophers. A variety of Susquehanna players contributed to the team’s success during the first half, as both Hoagland and Knecht added points in addition to sophomore guard Bryce Butler, freshman guard Lukas Yurasits, freshman guard Dan Frauenheim and senior guard Seth Callahan.
At one point in the first half, Susquehanna held a 31– 21 lead. However, the River Hawks would extend their already sizeable advantage, adding 11 more points and holding Goucher to only six. During that stretch, Hoagland had four points and Susquehanna would lead 42–27 at the half.
The second half featured more of the same, as the River Hawks remained in control of the action. At one point, the Gophers trimmed the lead down to 12 points, but they weren’t able to inch any closer thanks to LaCorte, who put a damper on Goucher’s run with back-to-back three pointers to extend Susquehanna’s lead.
In addition to LaCorte, Martin was a key contributer to the River Hawks’ second half success, as all 11 of his points came in the final 20 minutes of the game. Freshman forward Dominic Dunn also added four points as the team extended its lead to 67–39.
In the end, Susquehanna was simply too much for Goucher to handle, as the River Hawks secured a 73–50 victory.
“The keys for us were to be solid and win on defense,” Hoagland said. We wanted to keep the ball out of the post and force Goucher to take tough shots. We knew if we played with good energy we would have no problems handling Goucher.”
With the win, the River Hawks extended their record to 12–7 overall and 5–3 in Landmark Conference play.
Susquehanna also picked up a huge 89–81 overtime win at home against Scranton.
LaCorte once again led the River Hawks with 20 points and seven rebounds.
The victory propelled Susquehanna (6–3 Landmark) into third place in the conference standings. They sit one game behind Moravian and Drew, who are tied for first at 7–2 on the season.
Following the game against Scranton, only five games will remain in the 2018-19 campaign and the focus will soon shift to not only competing in the playoffs but to competing for a conference championship as well.
“My hopes for the last six games of the season are for us to finish strong and put us in a good position going into the conference playoffs,” Hoagland said. “I’d be nice to host and compete for a title at home.”
The River Hawks return to action on Saturday, Feb. 2 when they travel to Elizabethtown to face the 9-10 Blue Jays.
