Photo By Abigail MacMillan, Editor-in-Chief
By Emily Frey
The men’s basketball team had an 85-59 landslide victory over Goucher on Tuesday at O.W. Houts Gymnasium, sending them to the semifinals of the Landmark Conference playoffs.
Susquehanna (16-10) went into the game seeded third in the conference compared to Goucher (10-16) sitting at sixth. This is the third time this season the River Hawks have come out on top of the Goucher Gophers, with significant leads each time.
Prior to the game, SU head coach Frank Marcinek shared some thoughts on how he saw the game going. “They have more control over things than I do. I’ve never seen a jockey carry a horse across the finish line. So, to speak I’m the jockey and they’re the horse, so if they play well then we’re going to be fine.”
The proverbial horse did indeed play well. With the team nabbing the lead early in the game, the players were able to keep the reins in control and carry the lead for the game’s entirety. Susquehanna scored seven points before Goucher cracked the scoreboard. The River Hawks converted on nine three-point shots compared to Goucher’s four. SU played as a connected team, with 24 assists throughout the game, 6 belonging to forward Brandon Lavitt.
Guard Steven Ressler headed the scoreboard with 20 points in the game, followed by center Billy Anderson with 16 and guard Michael Pirone with 12. Ressler finished the game with a 62% shot accuracy. He registered four of the team’s three-point shots.
“We went through the first half of the schedule with only one loss, I thought that was really, really good,” Marcinek said. “We haven’t had quite the same success the second time through, but we’ve played some of the better teams on the road… We had a great start to conference play. As all teams do, we’ve dealt with some bumps and bruises, sickness, and things like that through the second half of the year, but we are at full strength now, and I hope that we are ready to play our best now.
The win sends the team to Drew on Thursday for the Landmark Conference Semifinals, putting them one step closer to the Championship game on Saturday. The men took on Drew twice this season, with an 83-78 win in January and an 82-94 loss this past Saturday. Drew is seeded second in the conference, sitting just below Catholic.
