Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Susquehanna's come-from-behind
victory over visiting USMMA was clinched in the final seconds as
rookie Harley Sellinger (Mill Hall, Pa./Central
Mountain) came up with perhaps the game's biggest
play, a block, to give SU a 76-75 win over the Mariners.
With the win, head coach Frank Marcinek picked
up his 299th career victory, all at SU.
Sellinger's block on a layup by USMMA's Zach
Karczewski sealed the one-point victory for the Crusaders, who put
together a second-half rally to improve to 4-3 in league play.
The Crusaders (8-10, 4-3) trailed by as many as 19 points,
including a 10-point halftime deficit, before putting together a
44-point performance in the second half, highlighted by Rob
Estep's (York, Pa./West York/Hobart) 19 points.
Estep went on to finish with a game-high 26 points. Joining him in
double figures were Spenser Spencer (Seattle,
Wash./Lakeside) with 18 and Harvey Pannell
(Bloomfield, Conn./St. Thomas More) with 15.
Sellinger was just one point shy of a double-double as he
finished with a game-high 10 boards and nine points. He also led
all players with two blocks.
SU shot 48 percent from the floor and 82 percent at the free
throw line.
The game certainly did not start out in SU's favor as the
team found itself down by double digits, 17-7, at the midway point
of the game. A 10-1 USMMA run burned three minutes off the clock
and gave the Mariners (8-9, 3-4) a game-high 19-point advantage
(36-17).
Susquehanna, however, closed out the half on a high note,
closing the gap to 10 points on an Estep free throw with nine
seconds on the clock.
The second half saw a different SU team come out of the locker
room, thanks in large part to Estep. The senior scored 14 of the
Crusaders' first 16 points of the half, including a jumper at
the 16:29 mark that made it a two-point game (46-44).
With 11:51 to play, Spencer's free throw tied the game at
55 and exactly four minutes later, Pannell's layup handed SU
its first lead (63-62) since a 1-0 edge in the opening minutes of
the first half.
Susquehanna built a four-point lead, 67-63, with 5:13 to play
but the Mariners took back a two-point edge, 73-71, on a Kevin Kerr
layup with 2:53 on the clock.
USMMA still led by one, 75-74, with 45 seconds left before
Spencer came through with perhaps SU's two biggest free
throws of the season to date with five seconds to play. Sellinger
continued the momentum, and helped clinch the win, with his block
seconds later to end the game.
Next game: Friday, Jan. 28 at Catholic – 7:30
p.m.
