SELINSGROVE, PA (January 3, 2023) -- First-year forward Brandon Lavitt had his best night as a River Hawk Tuesday night, powering the Susquehanna University men's basketball team to a 81-63 non-conference victory over Delaware Valley University from O.W. Houts Gymnasium. 

Lavitt was two points shy of his career-high Tuesday, as he posted 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while setting a new personal-best with 13 rebounds. The double-double was the second of his career, while the newcomer now has 20 or more points in three of his last five contests. The victory for Susquehanna was also the second straight win for SU, the first-time in 2022-23 the River Hawks have posted back-to-back triumphs. 

The River Hawks (5-7) dominated in the paint on Tuesday night, scoring 62 of the teams's 81 points inside including 38 in the first half. SU inched out to a 17-10 lead midway through the opening half, but DelVal (7-6) rallied to tie the game at 17 after a pair of free throws by Ewans Lizima. 

Senior Howie Rankine, Jr. answered with a jumper in the paint to put SU back on top, starting an 11-0 run thanks to five points from Rankine and six from classmate Quincy Haughton. A three-pointer from Goddy Marc stopped the run for SU, but Susquehanna went on another 13-3 run to take a 41-23 lead on a three-pointer from Luke Edwards. 

SU's lead would swell up to 22 points just before the halftime intermission, as Rankine set up first-year Audric Washington for a bucket to make it 47-25 after 20 minutes. The host River Hawks would push their lead up to as many as 29 five minutes into the second half on two more from Edwards, as SU cruised to the home win. 

Rankine had a strong all-around game for the River Hawks, as the senior posted 11 points, seven rebounds and six helpers. Edwards tallied 12 points on the night for Susquehanna, and is averaging 12.6 points per game over the last three contests. 

Haughton finished with 11 points three rebounds and three assists, while Washington was one point shy of his career-high as he tallied eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, pulling in four boards. Fellow newcomer Billy Anderson also posted eight points, four rebounds and three blocks off the bench, and Marcus Mitchell contributed seven points in 14 minutes. 

Susquehanna shot 58.1 percent on the night (36-62), which was a season-high shooting mark. 

Delaware Valley got 13 points from Casey Caruso, while Francis Robles Montas also tallied 12 points. The Aggies shot 36.9 percent from the floor on the contest, making 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) from behind the arc. 

Susquehanna is now finished with non-conference play for the campaign, and will now focus on Landmark Conference action for the remainder of the year. SU will head to Drew University (8-4, 0-1 Landmark) Saturday, January 7 at 4 p.m. in Madison, NJ in a rematch of the 2022 Landmark Conference title game.