Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Edges New Jersey City to Win Moravian Greyhound Classic Championship

BETHLEHEM, Pa.--Junior Sean Robine hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and sophomore Jesse Gutekunst added a pair of free throws with three ticks remaining as Hood College edged New Jersey City University 85-82 in the championship game of the 28th Annual Moravian College Greyhound Starters Classic Sunday afternoon.

The tournament title was the first for the Hood men's basketball program in its brief three-year history.

The Blazers (6-8) trailed 70-63 with 11:09 remaining before rallying to take a 74-73 lead on a pair of free throws by freshman Tim Abercrombie. The lead then changed hands four more times down the stretch, with NJCU (9-3) moving in front 80-78 on a 3 by Charles Coles with 3:28 to play.

Abercrombie hit a jumper to tie the game at 80 with just over three minutes left before the Gothic Nights hit 2-of-4 free throws to take an 82-80 advantage inside of two minutes.

Robine, who came into the game having made just eight 3-pointers on the season, then drained his biggest shot of the year to put Hood in front for good. It was his lone basket of the second half. Gutekunst, a 70 percent free-throw shooter this year, then sealed the win by hitting both free throws and finished with 10 points.

Junior Santo Provenzano earned tournament MVP honors after scoring a game-high 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting. He nearly single-handedly kept Hood in the game in the first half, as he scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting as NJCU led 48-42 at the break.

Abercrombie was named to the all-tournament team as well after pouring in a career-high 20 points, including 16 in the second half, and adding six assists and four rebounds. He was 6-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from behind the arc after intermission and hit several key baskets to counter NJCU makes and keep the Blazers within single digits.

Both teams came out firing in the first half, as NJCU hit 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the

floor and Hood shot 50 percent (15-of-30). The Blazers were just 1-of-9 from 3-point range but stayed close by hitting 11-of-18 from the free-throw line. Robine and Gutekunst both grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to help Hood to a 45-35 advantage on the boards.

Junior Dennis Tressler scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Hood had four players score in double figures for the second straight game.

Devin Davis had 19 points, but just two after halftime, and Mark Washington added 16 for NJCU, which had its eight-game winning streak snapped.

After playing its first 14 games on the road, Hood opens its home slate Wednesday when it faces Centenary (N.J.) at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School beginning at 7 p.m. The game is the first of five straight for the Blazers at home, where they are 15-3 alltime.

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