Late Goucher Rally Falls Short in Loss to Moravian

TOWSON, Md. — Troy DeShields (Seaford, Del./Sussex Technical) and Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md./Fairmont Heights) sparked a furious second half rally for Goucher, but it was ultimately not enough to overcome a 15-point deficit at halftime as the Gophers fell 73-69 to Moravian.

Goucher (7-12, 2-6 Landmark) trailed by as many as 17 early in the second half, but had a chance to tie the score in the closing seconds. With Moravian up 72-69, a long-3-pointer from Brian Morton II (Ellicott City, Md./Mount St. Joseph) bounced off the rim with four seconds to go to seal the Gophers' sixth-straight defeat.

The Greyhounds (9-10, 4-5) earned a series split after Goucher had come away with a 91-90 victory earlier in the season.

Both teams were cold from the field in the game's opening minutes, with neither squad reaching 15 points until Alex Noble (Clinton, Md./Surrattsville) sank two free throws with 8:47 left in the half to give the Gophers a 15-14 edge. That would turn out to be their last lead of the contest, with Moravian going on a 15-2 run over the next three minutes to open up a double-digit advantage.

Goucher trailed 42-27 heading into the intermission. Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park) scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half to keep the Gophers within striking distance.

DeShields and Livingston carried Goucher after the break, scoring 29 of the team's 42 second half points. The half was marked by two big runs for the Gophers. After Moravian scored the first two points of the second, Goucher rallied for an 21-7 spurt to cut the lead to 51-48 with 13:50 remaining, capped off by one of Livingston's five 3-pointers.

Six minutes later, the Greyhounds had extended their advantage back to 12 points at 66-54, but the Gophers had one final rally in them. Goucher scored the game's next nine points to get back in it, and a layup from DeShields pulled the Gophers within two at 69-67 with 47 seconds left. After a Moravian 3-pointer, DeShields threw down a thunderous dunk with 10 seconds left to cut the lead back to three, but those were Goucher's final points.

DeShields finished with 18 points, shooting a nearly flawless 8 of 9 from the field. Livingston added 18 points of his own, including a 5 of 9 performance from 3-point range. Livingston and Noble each had a team-high six rebounds, while Morton dished out four assists.

Moravian entered the game shooting just over 23 percent from long distance, but was able to hit 10 of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc tonight (38.5 percent). Both teams struggled all night from the charity stripe, with each missing 10 free shots and neither able to break 60 percent from the line.

The Gophers will look to end their skid at 7 p.m. Wednesday, when they conclude a three-game homestand with a game against Susquehanna (12-7, 4-4).