Gophers Suffer Three-Point Setback Despite Late Surge

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Even after trailing by as many as 19 points near the end the first half, Goucher had two possessions in the late stages of tonight's Landmark Conference contest against Moravian where a made 3-point field goal would have created a tie score.

The Gophers were able to get a 3-point attempt off on both possessions. Neither one of them, however, went in.

Goucher did manage to score seven points in the final 23 seconds of the game, which included a made 3-pointer by Norman Allen II (Bowie, Md./Riverdale Baptist) with only two seconds remaining, but head coach Leonard Trevino's squad still came up three points short, 69-66.

Moravian was up 62-59 when Goucher gained possession of the balll following a missed 3-point attempt by Isaiah Jennings with 1:37 left to play. An offensive rebound by Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) after a missed 3-point try by Alex Noble (Clinton, Md./Surrattsville) kept the possession alive until the Greyhounds (2-12, 1-5 Landmark) rebounded a missed free throw by Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park) with 1:19 remaining.

The Gophers (3-12, 2-4 Landmark) got a stop and regained possession on a defensive rebound by Outing still down 62-59 with just over a minute showing on the clock. Miles was able to get off a quick 3-pointer, but Brandon McGuire of the Greyhounds was able to gather in the miss.

Before Goucher would get the ball again, Moravian's lead grew to five points thanks to a pair of free throws by Izel Dickerson. After a layup by Tre Galloway III (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) reduced the Greyhounds' advantage to 64-61, Dickerson built it up to seven points by knocking down four more foul shots.

Miles, who shared scoring honors for Goucher with Galloway by furnishing the Gophers with 15 points, converted a layup with :09 remaining. Sean Hanna's free throw with eight seconds left to play accounted for Moravian's 69th point; Allen closed out the scoring with a made 3-pointer.

The Gophers, who were going after their second win of the season over Moravian after pinning a 102-92 setback on the Greyhounds back on December 3 in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center, took more than four minutes to tally their first point in tonight's rematch. They fell behind 7-0 until a layup by Allen 4:05 into the contest.

Moravian's lead ballooned to 19 points on a layup by Dickerson with :48 remaining before halftime, but Galloway got Goucher two points closer before the period ended when he got a mid-range jumper to fall.

The first time the Gophers were successful at getting their deficit below 10 points in the second half was during a run of nine consecutive points that was capped by a Galloway layup at 12:46.

Goucher closed to within 53-50 on a made 3-pointer by Miles with 7:16 left to play.

Moravian shot 44.7 percent from the field and had five different players make a 3-pointer during the first half. Over the final 20 minutes, however, the Greyhounds missed 23 of the 33 shots the attempted, including an 0-for-10 performance from distance.

McGuire contributed 29 points to the victory and also was the leading rebounder for Moravian with a total of nine. Dickerson added 19 points and Ryan O'Neill chipped in with 10 points, all in the first half.

Goucher, which finished with a .417 shooting percentage, also had three double-digit scorers. In addition to the 15-point outings by both Miles and Galloway, Outing turned in a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Goucher gets a crack at the newest member of the Landmark Conference when Elizabethtown pays a visit to the Decker SRC on Saturday for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The Gophers and Blue Jays have never met before in the sport of men's basketball.