Photos By Logan Moyer, Sports Editor and Molly McGuire
By Emily Rose and Matt Vargo
River Hawks Win Home Opener
The men’s basketball team began their home slate with a bang by defeating King’s College 73-62 on Friday
King’s (1-1) took the lead early on in the first half. The Monarchs shot 38% from the field in the first half. As the game progressed, tensions grew as King’s gained a steady lead.
“We were so disjointed,” SU coach Frank Marcinek said. “We had an advantage in the post and we just wanted to come down and launch quick threes. We didn’t operate with any sense of purpose.”
This lead didn’t last for long, as the River Hawks (2-0) were quick to make a comeback. In the first half, they shot 37% from the field and 37% from beyond the three-point line. SU saw multiple successful shots from Marcus Mitchell, Brandon Lavitt, and Billy Anderson. Susquehanna’s offense was determined to slip past the Monarchs and bring themselves back above. Their hard work paid off by the end of the first half. The score was 35-32. However, with such a tight lead, it was clear there was more work to be done.
“That was a good run,” Anderson said. “It’s very important for us to go on those types of runs.”
Friday evening also saw the SU’s dance team’s second performance of the season. The dancers took to the court with a piece titled “Yee Haw”, choreographed by Paige Cuscino, Jaclyn Kipp, and Ava Lebresco.
The second half brought 20 more minutes of close calls. The Monarchs and the River Hawks stayed similar in score for most of the half until the eighth minute when Allen Cieslak cemented a substantial lead with a three-point shot. Susquehanna shot 44% in the field and 31% from beyond the three-point line. For the remainder of the game, Susquehanna continued to climb higher, with their final points earned by a layup from Anderson in the last two minutes of the game.
“He’s a talented scorer,” Marcinek said of Anderson. “Last season, there were many times in late-game situations (that) he put us on his back.”
-Emily Rose
River Hawks Fall to Marymount
For the third year in a row, the men’s basketball team finishes as runner-up in the Susquehanna Tip Off Tournament.
The River Hawks fell to the Marymount 77-70 in the tournament’s championship game for their first loss of the season, dropping them to 2-1.
Against an opponent who made the NCAA Division III Tournament last season, Susquehanna needed to bring their A-game to come away with a win and halfway through the first half they kept pace with Marymount.
Susquehanna trailed 18-15 with 10:55 remaining in the half, but after this the Saints began to distance themselves from the River Hawks. Marymount (3-1) outscored Susquehanna (2-1) 23-15 for the rest of first half to take a 41-30 lead at halftime behind two strong starts from Marcus Stubbs and Isaac Harris.
Harris scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc and Stubbs scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting overall, hitting shots from all three levels of the floor.
“They both played very well,” Susquehanna head coach Frank Marcinek said. “They both did a great job getting to the rim, hitting open shots, and creating shots off the dribble.”
Susquehanna responded quickly out of the break, making it a 45-41 game 90 seconds into the second half thanks to timely three-pointers from Jackson Van Wagener and Steven Ressler and kept that same intensity to make it 52-50 with 12:42 remaining.
However, the River Hawks couldn’t make that final push. Despite the spark from Van Wagener and the consistent play from Brandon Lavitt and Billy Anderson, Stubbs and Harris continued their excellent play for the Saints.
They held off Susquehanna’s late run with clutch baskets, free throws, and help from their supporting cast to bring the deficit back up into double digits by the eight-minute mark and never looked back, eventually reaching the final score of 77-70 by the final buzzer.
“I like the intensity we came out with in both halves, but we couldn’t sustain it throughout the whole game.” Marcinek said. “We got a little sloppy down the stretch and didn’t capitalize on some of the opportunities we were given.
Lavitt led the River Hawks in scoring and rebounding with 21 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8-10 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line. Van Wagener finished with 14 points and four assists on 5-12 shooting, and Anderson chipped in with 10 points on 4-8 shooting off the bench.
For the Saints, Stubbs led the team with 23 points on 9-16 shooting while Harris finished with 22 points on 7-10 shooting, including 4-5 shooting from three. They also got enough help from Joshua Hughes and Reuben McEachern who each scored nine points.
For his play throughout the weekend, Harris was named Tip Off Tournament MVP while Stubbs was named to the All-Tournament Team. Lavitt and Anderson were also named to the All-Tournament for the River Hawks.
Susquehanna hopes to get back in the win column at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Goucher at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
-Matt Vargo
