SELINSGROVE, PA (January 12, 2024) – The Susquehanna men's basketball team's unbeaten run in the Landmark Conference came to an end on Friday evening, as visiting Wilkes came to town and dealt the River Hawks an 87-71 defeat. First-half shooting struggles for SU would put them in an 11-point hole at the halftime break that they were unable to overcome in the second half.
The Colonels shot the lights out for most of the game and wasted no time in putting their foot on the gas to get things started. After missing their first three shots in the opening minute, they would make their next four, taking a seven-point lead less than five minutes in as the River Hawks struggled to find the basket, making just one of their first five shots. A seven-point run from SU later in the half would see them close the gap to knot the teams at 17 each with 9:19 to go in the half, but from there, Wilkes could hardly miss, as they outscored SU 21-10 for the remainder of the half while making nine shots on 15 attempts.
SU would be the team on fire to start the second half, scoring 14 unanswered points to start the half without missing a single shot to take a 41-38 lead at the 17:11 mark. However, Wilkes managed to stop the bleeding from there and resumed their impressive shooting form. After shooting 53.1 percent from the floor as a team in the first half, that mark jumped up to 69.2 in the second. Even from three, where they struggled in the first going just three of 12 from beyond the arc, saw a massive improvement. They would make seven of their nine shots from long range in the second half, aided primarily by the performance of junior guard Cayden Merrifield, who scored a career-high 35 points while making six of his nine three-point attempts.
Unable to keep up with that scoring pace, SU ultimately fell behind again and were unable to recover. The River Hawks missed the usual strong scoring contributions of Cooper Haberern and Steven Ressler, who were held to just nine and eight points, respectively. No starter would reach double-digit points, while Marcus Mitchell would be a bright spot off the bench, scoring 15 points and adding three rebounds and a steal. Billy Anderson would also hit double-digits off the bench, scoring 13 points and grabbing a pair of rebounds. Brandon Lavitt led the team in boards with six, while Ressler topped the squad in assists with four.
Susquehanna will look to recover quickly from their first stumble in conference play, as they get back to action after just a single day's rest. They will take to the historic hardwood of the Palestra on Sunday, joining the rest of the conference in Philadelphia as part of the second annual Landmark at the Palestra event. The River Hawks will face off against Drew University at 5 pm in a clash between two key playoff contenders.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
