By Todd Hummel
SELINSGROVE -- With the back-to-back weekend games, Susquehanna didn't get much chance to dwell on Friday night's loss to Catholic, which dropped them into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Landmark Conference with Saturday afternoon's foe, Goucher.
"It did help (to play again right away) because sometimes you can dwell and negativity is a disease. It will eat you up, it spreads and it's infectious," Susquehanna forward Marcus Burke said. "It's good to be able to think that we have to get back out here (Saturday) and get it done, however (the game) turned out."
"If there is a good thing about this format it is that there is no time for a hangover after a loss," Susquehanna coach Frank Marcinek said. "You better get your head back up and be ready to play."
It took a half for a sense of urgency to creep into the Crusaders' psyche, but when it did, it turned out to be too much for the Gophers.
After allowing 41 first-half points, the Crusaders allowed just 24 second-half points, while Burke, a senior, had the best all-around day of his career as Susquehanna bounced back with a 76-65 win over Goucher at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
"We lost (Friday night), which put us in a tie for fourth with (Goucher) and tomorrow isn't promised to us. We had to lock down," Burke said. "Every game from now on in this season is must win. It was set up for us to pick it up and play better and we accepted the challenge."
"In the second half, we played them 20 minutes of good hard man-to-man defense. We tried to pick up them up full court and wear them down. The other thing is the second game of these back-to-backs on the road; you can really tire out your opponent. Shots that went down on Friday, don't always fall on Saturday," Marcinek said. "We just really emphasized defense the second half. We thought if we could get more ball pressure, our defense would improve. If there was anything we did better, it was put more pressure on the ball."
Burke had 19 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Crusaders, continuing his strong play in the final half of the season. Burke's 18 rebounds was a career-high and a season-high in the Landmark Conference, not bad for a 6-foot-2 forward in the land of the giants.
I definitely feel from years past I'm in better condition," Burke said. "I definitely see the sun setting on things, if not now then when. You have to get it. Me and (Bryan) Majors (Susquehanna's only seniors) have been here for four years and we definitely have to get it done."
The Crusaders (12-8 overall, 5-4 LC) are now a game up on Goucher for the final playoff berth and trail the top two teams in the league, Merchant Marine and Catholic -- which followed its victory at SU with a win Saturday on the road at Scranton -- by two games, holding out the possibility of a home playoff game yet for the Crusaders. Goucher falls to 6-13, 4-5.
Susquehanna played most of the first half in a zone defense, but the Gophers shot 56 percent from the floor and nailed 5 3-pointers to take a 41-40 lead at the half.
"In the first half, we played more zone. I didn't think they were a great shooting team, but they came out and shot it well in the first half," Marcinek said.
The Crusaders came out of the locker room in man-to-man and harassed the Gophers into 25 percent shooting. After a 5-of-12 performance behind the arc in the first half, Goucher was just 3-of-13 in the second half.
Burke gave Susquehanna the lead at 42-41 with 19:24 left in the game and the Crusaders never lost the lead from that point in the game. The Crusaders would build a seven- or eight-point lead, only to see Goucher climb back within two or three, before Susquehanna would pull away again.
The Crusaders pulled away for good with under four minutes left after Goucher freshman point guard Dorian Green canned a 3-pointer to pull the Gophers within 67-64; but Goucher would manage only one foul shot the rest of the way.
Susquehanna scored the next eight points, keyed by a Spenser Spencer 3-pointer and a nifty pass from the sophomore to Hunter McKain for a layup. Spencer finished the game with 13 points and six assists along with a key role in the Crusaders' second-half defensive effort.
"Spencer is capable of doing so much more than he's done and that's the point right now. He's a good passer. He can be a good defender. He can rebound the ball. He's slowly but surely realizing that there is more to the game than just shooting the ball," Marcinek said. "He's a great shooter, but he's becoming a little more of a complete player. He can help us in a lot of ways."
Along with Burke and Spencer, freshman Harvey Pannell and Hunter McKain also scored in double figures. Pannell had 14 points for the Crusaders, while McKain had 12 points off the bench.
Kyle Gladden led the Gophers with 17 points, while Shane Yambor chipped in with 15 and Micah Perry had 12.
