LEXINGTON, VA (December 29, 2023) – The Susquehanna men's basketball team would meet Denison in their opening game of the Washington & Lee Holiday Tournament on Friday evening, with both teams traveling to Virginia to take part in the two-day tournament. The Big Red's offense proved too hot for the River Hawks, as SU gave up a season-high 100 points, unable to keep up as they fell 100-80. The River Hawks did well to cut into a 26-point halftime deficit, but ultimately couldn't do enough as Denison shot a remarkable 67.9 percent from the floor.

After seeing Denison score a whopping 58 points in the first half to take a 58-32 lead into the break, Susquehanna would rebound to outscore the Big Red 48-42 in the second. Marcus Mitchell would lead SU in scoring, tallying 13 points on four of seven shooting, including three of four from long range. Cooper Haberern, Brandon Lavitt, Steven Ressler, and Jayden Statum would all reach double-digit points, with Statum scoring a career-high 10 in the best performance of his debut season thus far, adding two rebounds and an assist.

Denison thrived in the paint, winning the points in the paint battle 54-28 while also out-rebounding SU 37-26. The scoring of the Big Red made the difference, with SU's 80 points being a season-high game total but still resulting in a loss.

Susquehanna will now face Franklin & Marshall in the tournament consolation game tomorrow at 2 pm. The Diplomats also made the trip down from Pennsylvania and the two teams are no strangers to one another, having met five previous times since 1990 and most recently in 2019. F&M fell against the hosts Washington & Lee 75-70.

Facebook: susquehanna.riverhawks | Instagram: @gosusqu
Twitter: @GOsusqU | Hashtags: #AllIn, #GOSU, #RiverHawkPride

--RIVER HAWKS--