Goucher Men's Basketball Downed By Juniata, 60-52
BALTIMORE, Md. – On the night Goucher men's basketball celebrated his 1,000-career point, Dwayne Morton (Baltimore, Md./Waynesville [Mo.]) scored 16 points for the Gophers in a 60-52 loss against Juniata College in Landmark Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday.
Morton, who became the 10th player in program history to score 1,000 points with his basket with 7:31 left in the first half against Suquehanna University on Saturday, was honored before the game for acheivement this career milestone.
Morton shot 6-for-14 from the floor, made two 3-pointers and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to move to 1,026 career points, two points shy of ninth place on the program's all-time career point list. The senior has posted double figures in points in three-straight games, four of his last five, 14 times in his senior year and 49 times in his career. Morton also had one steal on the night to give him 100 for his career.
Darrell Collins (Baltimore, Md./New Town) notched a career-high 15 points after connecting on 5 of 8 from the floor, 3 of 4 from behind the arc and 2 of 3 from the free throw line. The freshman has posted double figures four times in his last nine tilts.
Two weeks after earning a 47-46 victory, Goucher grabbed an 8-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game after a Josh Lichti (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) trey, a Pat Goralski (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) jumper and a Morton trey. Juniata went on a 19-5 run to take a 23-13 lead with 5:54 on the clock.
Morton and Collins powered a 7-0 run with four points and three points, respectively, to cut the margin to 23-20 with 4:31 remaining in the first half. The Eagles then closed the half by scoring nine of the last 11 points to take a 32-22 lead going into the locker room.
The Gophers scored the first eight points of the second half to cut the margin in the first four minutes to 32-30. Lichti, Mal Graham, Cam Isaacs (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) and Morton each registered a basket in the run. Collins then tied the game at 39 with a triple at 10:19 and again at 41 with 9:01 remaining.
Juniata then scored the next five points to take the lead for good. Collins made the game close again with two free throws with five-minutes remaining to cut the margin to 49-48. The Eagles then scored the next nine points en route to a 60-52 win to split the season series.
Goucher returns to action on Saturday at Drew University. Game time is 2 p.m.