Men’s Basketball Falls Short Versus Landmark Conference Opponents Scranton and Moravian
Photo Credit: Cardinals Athletic Site
Nate Koenig scored 20 points in Catholics loss to the University of Scranton. He went 8-16 shooting 50 percent from the field.
Sean Robinson, Staff
January 12, 2012
Filed under Sports
The Catholic University men’s basketball team lost two last-second games against conference foes Moravian College and the University of Scranton, following an 11-1 start. Both games were close, including a three-point double overtime loss to Scranton, 80-76, and a two-point last-second loss to Moravian, 71-69.
With 20 seconds left against Moravian, forward Darrell Carroll sunk two foul shots to tie the game at 69. Marcus Hardy then scored on a layup with four seconds left to give Moravian the lead, and would eventually seal the game after a missed last shot by Catholic guard Shawn Holmes.
The Cardinals played well throughout the game, keeping it close and showing once again that they had a strong bench and rotation. Reserves Nate Koenig, 10 points, 3-6 from the field, and Darrell Carroll, 13 points and nine rebounds, combined for 48 strong minutes. Starting forward Chris Kearny scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting and added nine rebounds and four blocks.
The Cardinals as a team shot 44.3%, making 27 of 61 shots. On three-point attempts, Catholic struggled through the game and made only 2-11. Catholic had 11 assists and 18 turnovers while Moravian had 13 assists and only 10 turnovers.
At Scranton, the Cardinals were leading toward the end of the game, but were unable to finish due to missed foul shots. Up two points with under 30 seconds remaining in the game, guards Holmes and Steve Limberiou made 2-4 foul shots, which gave Scranton a chance with eight seconds left to tie or take the lead. Scranton guard Tommy Morgan made a layup with four seconds remaining to tie and Holmes was unable to connect on the game winner.
In the first overtime, Catholic was down by one point with three seconds left when Kearny was fouled and sent to the line. He missed the first, but made the second to tie the game at 72, sending the game into second overtime. In the second overtime, Koenig hit a jumper to tie the score 76-76 with a minute remaining. Scranton then went on a 4-0 run as Catholic was unable to connect on their next three shots, finalizing the score at 80-76.
The Cardinals were led by Koenig and Limberiou, who both scored 20 points. Koenig added four assists, three steals, and shot 8-16 from the field while Limberiou had six rebounds and was 2-4 from behind the arch. Forwards Carroll and Kearny scored in double figures, combining for 24 points with 11 rebounds.
“[It was a] tough weekend for us. We have given great effort all season and that was the reason for the best start in school history,” said coach Steve Howes.
“We did not have that level of defensive effort against Moravian. We did the next night against Scranton and had three opportunities to seal the game from the free throw line but didn’t. Hopefully playing at home and recommitting to defense will help us get back on track.”
The Cardinals will host Susquehanna University at 5:30 pm on January 13th and Juniata College at 2:00 pm on the 14th. After two close conferences losses, the Cardinals look to improve their Landmark record to 3-2 and their overall record to 13-2 with these next two games.
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