By Olivia Parke, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna men’s basketball team earned their third victory after defeating King’s 77-61 in the first match of the Susquehanna Trailways Tipoff Tournament on Nov. 15 in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Susquehanna held the lead against King’s 45-27 going into halftime as jJunior Matt LaCorte led the River Hawks with 11 points in the first half and Ssophomore Lukas Yurasits and jJunior Bryce Butler each also contributing seven points.
Scoring in the second half started off slow, but freshman Howie Rankine Jr. got things moving after a steal, as Yurasits and sophomore Danny Frauenheim then put Susquehanna ahead by 13 after each scoring 3-pointers.
Yurasits scored 14 more points in the second half, leading Susquehanna in points scored with 21 throughout the game.
“I think our team did a great job of having a next play mentality and not worrying about previous mistakes,” Butler said. “We pride ourselves on starting fast and strong to set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Sophomore Dominic Dunn lead the defense in defensive rebounds with nine and senior Zachary Kent followed close behind with six.
Joe Lonardi lead the Monarchs with six defensive rebounds. Lonardi and Tyler Ffaux also lead the scoring for King’s with 15 points each.
Susquehanna faced a close game against Rowan UniversityUnivsersity but came out on top 96-92 in the championship game of the tournament on Nov. 16.
Yurasits was named MVP of the Susquehanna Trailways Tipoff Tournament, contributing 39 points during the game and. Frauenheim was also chosen for the All-Tournament Team.
The first half ended with Susquehanna in the lead 45-41 as Yurasits put away two 3-pointers.
Yurasits continued to lead the River Hawks in the second half with 16 free throws and another 3-point shot. Junior Matt LaCorte was also able to put away two 3-point shots to keep Susquehanna in the lead.
Junior Jo’e’l Morris provided an additional four offensive rebounds as LaCorte and Yurasits each had six to lead the defense.
Rowans offense was led by Jerry Price with 22 points and Malqi Sanders who had 20 points and also lead the defense with six defensive rebounds.
“We did a very good job knocking down open shots and taking advantage of their defensive mistakes,” LaCorte said. “We did our job on the boards too and kept them to one shot per possession and our free throw shooting is something we consistently do well.”
The River Hawks will host their next game at 8 p.m. on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. against Messiah College in the OW Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove, Pa.