Photo courtesy of Sports Information.
By Mike Henken, Staff Writer
The No. 3 seeded Susquehanna men’s basketball team lost to No. 2 Moravian 91-73 on Feb. 21 at Johnson Hall in Bethlehem, Pa in the semifinals of the Landmark Conference playoffs.
Moravian jumped out to an early lead after draining three-straight shots from behind the arc before junior forward Zach Knecht got the River Hawks on the board with a layup.
Just over three minutes into the game, Moravian had already established a 10-point lead, and the onslaught didn’t stop there. The Greyhounds continued to put the pressure on Susquehanna, extending their lead to 27-6 before the River Hawks were forced to call a timeout.
“Moravian is very dangerous when their shooters have any space at all to get a shot off,” sophomore guard Matt LaCorte said on Moravian’s fast start. “Whenever we were a step slow on defense they took advantage of it and made us pay. It just took us too long to realize that and adjust accordingly.”
Following the timeout, Susquehanna began to chip away at the lead with senior guard Tyler Hoagland, freshman forward Dominic Dunn and freshman guard Dan Frauenheim leading the way. A layup by Frauenheim cut Moravian’s lead down to 41-30, but as the first half concluded, Susquehanna trailed 47-32.
In the second half, the two teams went toe-to-toe as the River Hawks attempted to trim the deficit. With less than 13 minutes remaining in the game, layups made by Dunn and freshman guard Jaden Martin put Susquehanna within 12 points of Moravian.
However, the late push was not enough to overcome the slow start, and the Greyhounds, led by senior forward and leading scorer Oniel Holder, held onto their lead and eliminated Susquehanna from the playoffs.
Despite coming up short, the River Hawks finished the game with four players scoring in double digits. Hoagland totaled 15 points on 6-11 shooting while Dunn added 15 points of his own in addition to 11 rebounds to secure a double-double. Frauenheim also had 15 points while adding five assists and LaCorte contributed 12 points.
Following the loss, Susquehanna’s 2019 season has come to an end. The River Hawks finished the season with a 16-10 record, notching 6 more wins than last year, including a 9-5 record in Landmark Conference play.
“We are a very young team with a lot of potential and that showed this season,” LaCorte said. “We made a huge step in the right direction from last year to this year and we have nowhere to go but up. We’re going to have a challenging offseason this spring and summer and come back ready to do some damage next year.”
Susquehanna will graduate only two seniors: Hoagland and guard Seth Callahan. With two assists against Moravian, Hoagland finished his collegiate career with 474 total assists, which ranks third in Susquehanna history.
Looking back on this season, Hoagland has nothing but fond memories.
“This season was great,” he said. “It was a great experience from start to end. We had a lot of underclassmen, so as one of the few upperclassmen, I tried to do everything I could to prepare the team in the preseason and be a vocal leader to ensure a successful season. I think the younger guys gained a ton of valuable experiences that will really help them in their future careers here.”
In addition, the senior can now reflect on his career as a whole, and he has no regrets when it comes to his four years as a River Hawk.
“My career here has been unreal from playing in three Landmark Conference tournaments to making the NCAA tournament twice,” Hoagland said. “If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
