Men’s Basketball Unable to Cool Hot Shooting Gwynedd Mercy in Home Loss

Box Score

TOWSON, Md. - Four different Goucher College men's basketball players scored in double-figures, as the Gophers posted their highest offensive output of the young season on Wednesday night against Gwynedd Mercy. But, it wasn't enough, as the visiting Griffins shot over 72 percent from the floor in a 105-69 victory at the Decker SRC Arena.

With the defeat, Goucher fell to 0-6 overall for the year, while Gwynedd Mercy improved to 5-1 with the win.

In the opening frame of the contest, both squads played at a rapid pace in the three minutes of play, as Goucher held a slim 9-7 lead three minutes into the contest.

But, Gwynedd Mercy proceeded to go on a big run that essentially put Goucher away for the night for the next nine minutes, as a 25-4 rally gave the Griffins an insurmountable 35-13 lead with 8:47 to go in the first half.

For the remainder of the period, Gwynedd Mercy continued to shoot at a torrid pace, as they went into the locker room up, 58-23 on Goucher. In the first half, the Griffins shot 72 percent from the floor and nailed 12 threes, going 12-of-16 from outside the arc.

The deficit proved to be too much for Goucher to come back from the second half, but the Gophers had a much better go of it on the offensive end in the frame. In all, Gwynedd Mercy only outscored the Gophers by one point in the last 20 minutes of regulation (47-46), as the 69 point total was the most for Goucher in their first six games of the 2017-18 season.

Overall, first-year forward Jacob Smith (Callaway, Va./Franklin County) led the Gophers offense in the defeat, pacing four double-digit scorers on the night for the Gophers with 14 points. For Smith, the 14-point output was a season-best, as well.

Elsewhere, sophomore guard Dwayne Morton (Waynesville, Mo./Waynesville) and first-year Nate Kaniut (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) scored 12 points, apiece, as Morton went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The final double-digit scorer for Goucher was junior Uvan Stewart (Frederick, Md. / Saint Maria Goretti), who had 10 points while dishing out a season-high six assists.

Will Davis led Gwynedd Mercy in the win with 16 points.

The Goucher College men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, as they travel to McDaniel for another non-conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m

--GOPHERS--