In a tightly contested battle, Cabrini men’s basketball defeated Moravian University in November. The Cavs were itching for a win coming into the game with a 2-4 record; the Greyhounds were stalled at 1-4.
Sophomore guard, Aquil Stewart, led the Cavs in the scoring column with 24 points in 37 minutes of play. At the end of the first half, the Greyhounds led by seven with a score of 38-31. The Cavs were able to outscore the Greyhounds by nine points in the second half, which ultimately led to their success. “After losing to this team last year, I feel like we had to revenge that. I feel like the game would’ve been easier if we did not get off to such a slow start,” Stewart said.
Bounce-back game
The Cavs were looking for a bounce-back game after a loss to Rosemont College with a score of 84-80.
The Moravian game came down to the wire. With 30 seconds left in regulation, Stewart brought the ball up the court while the Cavs were trailing 62-61. Sophomore guard, Donoven Mack, swiftly cut behind his defender’s back to the rim and received a beautiful pass from Stewart right underneath the basket. Mack put in an easy layup which gave the Cavs the lead with a short time left.
Freshman forward, Isaac Brady, tallied the first points in the scoring column for the Cavs after a sloppy pass by Moravian led to a turnover. Although the Cavs tallied the first points of the game, their lead was quickly overturned by the Greyhounds. The Cavs were able to record four consecutive three-pointers that put them in favor with a lead of 12-7 with more than 16 minutes of play left in the half.
After a scoring entourage by the Greyhounds, they were able to keep their lead with a score of 38-31 at the end of the first half. Shooting 61 percent in the first half, the Greyhounds notched 11 out of their 18 attempted three-point shots. It’s always a threat when a team shoots that efficient from downtown, but the Cavs did not let that discourage them.
“We could have done a lot better in closing out to their shooters, they were a very good three-point shooting team and we let them take wide open shots,” sophomore guard, Chris Monaco Jr., said.
The will to fight back
Shortly after the halftime break, the Cavs were able to trim the lead down to just two points, for a score of 52-50 with a little more than nine minutes left. Following two free throws by senior guard, Ryan Byars, Moravian hit some shots that gave them a four point cushion over the Cavs. Byars tied the game at 56.
With about two and a half minutes to play, senior forward, Christian Lane, finished at the rim and drew a foul, which led to a three-point play. This gave the Cavs a one-point cushion and their first lead of the half. In the final minute of regulation, both teams battled back and forth, but Stewart’s final assist to Mack captured the Cavs’ third win of the season.
Byars finished the night with his first recorded double-double of the season that included 11 points and 12 rebounds. Brady finished the game with 10 points and nine rebounds.
