Photo by Nicholas Campbell
By Marquis Frias, Sports Editor
The Susquehanna Men’s Basketball team had their Senior Day spoiled by Drew University 92-84 in the final game of the regular season on Saturday at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
Despite the loss, Susquehanna was able to clinch the sixth and final seed in this year’s Landmark Conference Playoffs thanks to help around the conference. Moravian University, who was sitting in front of the River Hawks at sixth in the Landmark Conference rankings entering Saturday, suffered an 85-78 loss to Juniata.
With the tiebreakers in effect, Susquehanna was able to leap ahead of Moravian to claim the final spot in the Landmark Conference Playoffs.
Before the game, six seniors were honored with a ceremony to celebrate their contributions to the program during their time at Susquehanna. The six seniors include Billy Anderson, Allan Cieslak, Emezie Egeonu, Brandon Lavitt, Jackson Van Wagener and Audric Washington.
The matchup between Drew and Susquehanna started with Drew taking control early, sinking a three-pointer on the first possession of the game.
From there, Drew continued to get buckets at the rim with some success behind the arch, while the River Hawks mostly played catch up in the beginning minutes of the first.
With 5:21 left in the first, Lavitt would score a layup to cut the lead down to 36-24 in favor of Drew. Following that, the River Hawks outscored Drew 14-10 to close out the first half. The Rangers entered the locker room with a 46-38 lead after a resounding effort from Susquehanna to close the gap.
Lavitt led the way in scoring with 17 points in the first half, followed by KJ Carson with nine points. Meanwhile, Ben Manns, David Musial and Eli Yusavage all had double–digit points in the first half for Drew.
The second half was more of the same as the first, with Drew trying to maintain their lead while Susquehanna did its best to cut into it. The offense for both teams was high-powered and fast as each team seemingly got buckets at will, resulting in the two teams scoring 46 points each in the second frame.
Susquehanna’s offensive rebounding was key for creating more opportunities offensively, as they secured 14 offensive rebounds to Drew’s seven. However, Drew saw more success behind the arc as they sank nine three’s to SU’s four.
Drew held a considerable lead for the duration of the second half, with the smallest lead being five points with 30 seconds left in the game. However, Drew was able to keep the game away from the River Hawks and close out the 94-82 win.
Lavitt dropped a 36-point double-double, a career-high in points in his final game at O.W. Houts Gymnasium to go along with 12 rebounds and three assists. Carson finished with 12 points while going 5-7 from the field, and Van Wagener added nine points with four rebounds.
Meanwhile for Drew, Yusavage dropped 30 points with five three’s, with Musial adding in 17 points and 9 rebounds of his own.
Again, with help from Juniata and Elizabethtown, Susquehanna clinched the sixth seed in this year’s Landmark Conference playoffs where they will take on Scranton in the first round. The Royals swept the River Hawks in their regular season series, with the most recent game being a 99-92 home win for the Royals earlier this month.
The River Hawks will travel to Scranton, PA on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. to take on Scranton in the first round of the Landmark Conference as Susquehanna begins their quest to the Landmark Championship path.