Photo By Logan Moyer, Sports Editor
By Marquis Frias
The men’s basketball team kept rolling on Wednesday night, winning its fourth straight contest with a 66-41 victory over winless Juniata in a Landmark Conference matchup at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
It was a game about runs right from the jump. Susquehanna (9-7 overall, 6-3 Landmark) rushed out to a 17-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, headlined by a pair of 3-pointers from guard Michael Pirone.
Following this was Juniata’s (0-16, 0-9) own 8-point run to reduce SU’s lead to five, but this was the closest the Eagles would get. Susquehanna concluded the first half with a 15-5 run, heading into the locker rooms with a 32-17 lead. Season-leading scorer Billy Anderson had scored 10 of his 12 points in this half.
The second half was more of the same, with Susquehanna getting their way in almost every aspect of the game. The pesky River Hawk defense caused key turnovers that led to points on the break. This fueled a 23-8 run, the largest of the night. Susquehanna managed to keep the foot on the pedal, leaving the Eagles winless with a convincing win.
“We’ve been building our defense for the last four weeks as a scheme… I thought the scheme troubled Juniata. That was the plus,” SU head coach Frank Marcinek said after the game.
The River Hawks will carry their win streak into a match at home against Moravian on Saturday, who find themselves in the top three of the Landmark Conference standings.
When asked about the approach to this important conference matchup, Marcinek said, “Winning a couple in a row is good for our confidence, but we are always good at keeping it one game at a time.” Marcinek then mentioned the loss his team faced in the first battle of the season with Moravian. He stated, “We lost at Moravian in a game we played great for 25 minutes and had a bad 15 minutes. It’s important that we play well for all 40 minutes on Saturday.”