By Logan Moyer
SELINSGROVE- Led by 33 points from Howie Rankine Jr. , the Men’s Basketball Team defeated Lebanon Valley 94-86 on Nov. 18.
The game was the latter part of a doubleheader in the National Beef Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by Susquehanna in the O. W. Houts gymnasium.
The River Hawks shot nearly 50% percent from beyond the arc, drilling 14 three-pointers to amount to almost half of their points from the field.
Susquehanna coach Frank Marcinek highlighted the team’s shooting as the main reason for their success.
“That’s as good as it gets,” said the 35th-year head coach. “That’s who we are.”
18 of Rankine Jr.’s points came off three-pointers. Quincy Haughton, one of the other two seniors on the roster, drilled five deep balls to amount to 15 points.
“I think we can definitely shoot the ball well,” said Rankine Jr. “We haven’t shot the ball well lately, so it was one of those nights where we were definitely due.”
The River Hawks will next match up with Christopher Newport, the fourth-ranked team in the country according to d3hoops.com. The game is a rematch from last year’s NCCA playoffs, where the captains defeated the Riverhawks 81-67 in the second round.
Rankine, one of just two players who played significant minutes in that game last year, likes the team’s chances at pulling off an upset.
“I think we match up fine,” said Rankine. “It’s just about executing the gameplan and playing with our hearts.”
The Captains defeated Washington & Lee 85-84 in overtime to advance to the championship game, which will be contested at 3 p.m. on Saturday. It will be preceded by the consolation game, starting at 1 p.m.
Payton Lewis paced the Dutchmen with 30 points, knocking down six deep-balls of his own. Kegan Hertz also added 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half.
The Riverhawks entered the halftime break with a 48-41 lead, but the Dutchmen came out of the gates in the second half firing, reducing the lead to as little as four points.
Coming out of a River Hawk timeout, there were 16 minutes left to play in the game. Haughton knocked down a pair of buckets to stop the Dutchmen’s run and spark a 23-6 run over the next five minutes.
“With all the young guys we have out there, it’s so important to have somebody out there who can right the ship,” said Marcinek.
Despite the close final score line, the Riverhawks led by as many as 21 during the second half. It was only during the final few minutes of the game that the Dutchmen began to strike back.
Marcinek lamented the team’s sloppy play toward the end of the game but said he was pleased with the team’s performance overall.