Box Score Box
Score
TOWSON, Md. – Senior Spenser Spencer (Seattle,
Wash./Lakeside) broke into the top-10 of all-time
Susquehanna scorers as his Crusader squad took down Landmark
Conference opponent Goucher 77-74 on Saturday night.
Spencer now has 1,328 career points to tie Barry Boblick '73
for 10th all-time. The senior was one of four SU players
in double figures as Brendan Rezny (Sparta,
N.J./Sparta) and Harley Sellinger (Mill Hall,
Pa./Central Mountain) each added a team-high 19 points
while J.T. Wilson (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII
Regional) had 14 on the night. Sellinger and Spencer also
had eight rebounds apiece.
Free-throw shooting proved to be critical to SU's win as the
Crusaders (9-6, 3-2) sank 21-of-28 free throw attempts while the
Gophers (3-12, 0-5) shot just 54 percent at the charity stripe.
That helped Susquehanna overcome a 47 percent field goal showing
from Goucher, as well as an impressive 58 percent effort from
three-point range for the Gophers.
Susquehanna did dominate on the boards, however, pulling down 47
rebounds to Goucher's 35.
Just over two minutes into the game, SU held a 6-2 lead after a
Sellinger layup at the 17:45 mark and Sellinger added a layup less
than two minutes later for a 9-4 SU lead.
It was an eight-point Crusader edge (16-8) three minutes later
following a Tony Seldon (Bloomfield, Conn./Northwest
Catholic) jumper, but 10 unanswered Goucher points quickly
erased Susquehanna' lead and handed the Gophers an 18-16
lead.
Wilson countered with a three that handed the lead back to
his team at 19-18 and was part of a 9-2 SU run that put the team up
25-20 with 6:35 to play in the half.
Spencer was fouled on a three-point attempt with 4:32 on the clock
and the senior sank all three free throws to make it an 11-point
game at 33-22.
Goucher's Richard Harris made a jump shot at 2:21 to pull his
team within eight (37-29) and that marked the final points of the
half.
Harris opened the second half with a three-pointer for a 37-32 game
but SU rattled off six-straight points to maintain an 11-point
advantage (43-32).
Goucher pulled within three, 43-40, with just over 15 minutes to
play, and a Marcus Cotton layup two minutes later trimmed
SU's lead to two (48-46).
With roughly 10 minutes to play, SU was holding onto a 52-51 lead
before the Gophers took their first lead since midway through the
first half on an Alex Noble trey at 7:07 that made it 58-56.
Spencer quickly tied it with two game-tying free throws but from
that point on, the lead proceeded to swap sides.
The Crusaders held a narrow, 73-71 lead inside the two-minute mark,
and with 51 seconds left, it remained a two-point game (75-73) in
favor of Susquehanna before Spencer sank two free throws with 14
ticks on the clock to up SU's lead to three (77-74).
Goucher called three consecutive timeouts, winding the clock down
to three seconds in the process, but Noble missed a three-point
attempt at the buzzer as the Crusaders held on for the narrow
victory.
The men return home next weekend and host Scranton on Friday at
5:30.
