SELINSGROVE, PA (November 17, 2023) – Taking to home court for the first time this season, the Susquehanna men's basketball team weathered a strong second-half comeback effort from visiting Cabrini to see out a 61-59 victory on the opening night of the Susquehanna Tip-Off Tournament. Improving to 2-1 on the young season, the River Hawks earned themselves a date with John Carroll in tomorrow's championship game.
SU looked sharp to start the game, jumping out to a five-point advantage with help from a pair of Luke Edwards' three-pointers in the opening minutes. Cabrini would hang around for a bit, but the lead would swell to double digits just past the ten-minute mark as Susquehanna continued to hit from long range, making five threes in just the first half. Some strong defensive sets helped them carry a ten-point advantage into the halftime break at 32-22.
The script would flip quickly in the second half, as the Cavaliers found their groove offensively and pulled back to within four points just over three minutes into the second half. The SU defense continued to put up a decent number of stops, but turnovers and missed free throws began to hamper the River Hawk offense as they struggled to restore their advantage. Things got humming again on a stretch of four-straight makes for SU, with a jumper by Cooper Haberern followed by back-to-back made layups from Billy Anderson. Haberern then capped the run with a three to stretch the lead to 14, his third make from beyond the arc on the night.
With the score 57-43 in SU's favor and just 4:29 on the clock, things were looking comfortable for the River Hawks, but Cabrini had answers of their own. Aided by three steals and seven made free throws down the stretch, Cabrini would tie the game at 59-59 with just 13 seconds remaining. That seventh make would be the front end of a pair for Donoven Mack, but his only miss from the line of the night would come at a crucial time, as he missed the free throw that would've given the Cavaliers their first lead of the night. That would set up a dramatic finish for SU, a team no stranger to late-game heroics after a number of memorable finishes last season. On this occasion, it would be Steven Ressler who played the role of hero, getting open on an inbounds play with five seconds left and draining a jumper from the left elbow with just 1.7 seconds left on the clock. After missing his first four field goal attempts on the night, he came through when it mattered most, putting SU back up by two. And there the score would stay, as Cabrini would be unable to successfully inbound the ball and get a shot off with such little time remaining, clinching the win for the River Hawks.
SU will now regroup and prepare to go again on Saturday afternoon, facing off against John Carroll at 3 pm in the championship bout. The Blue Streaks rode a strong second-half performance to a commanding 83-63 win over Penn State Harrisburg and sit at 3-0 overall.
Cabrini and Penn State Harrisburg will face off in the consolation game at 1 pm.
Facebook: susquehanna.riverhawks | Instagram: @gosusqu
Twitter: @GOsusqU | Hashtags: #AllIn, #GOSU, #RiverHawkPride
--RIVER HAWKS--
