Behind a balanced scoring attack that featured six players in double figures, the Muhlenberg men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 92-79 win at DeSales.
Coming four days after a 95-87 win at Moravian, it gave the Mules a sweep of their Lehigh Valley rivals for the first time since 2015, and for the first time on the road since 2014.
It also marked the first time in program history that Muhlenberg began a season by topping the 90-point mark in its first two games. The closest the Mules had come was in 1972-73, when they scored 87 against Western Maryland and 90 against Lafayette.
Muhlenberg scored 90 points in back-to-back games as recently as two years ago but hadn't done it in back-to-back road games since 1971.
Junior
Spencer Duke, crowned
Centennial Conference player of the week earlier in the day, led Muhlenberg with 17 points, with freshman
Justin Allen (14), senior
Matt Gnias (13), sophomore
Dan Gaines (12), junior
Michael Morreale (12) and sophomore
Noah Watson (11) also hitting double figures.
The Mules opened the game by hitting their first six three-pointers en route to opening up a 28-12 lead. That couldn't last, and it didn't. Muhlenberg cooled off and the Bulldogs, who were playing their opener, closed to within three points late in the first half.
DeSales eventually drew even at 49-all five minutes into the second half, but the Mules kept their composure. Watson hit a three from the corner on the next possession, and sophomore Nate Henty Brown followed with a three to push the lead back to six.
Three-pointers by Allen and Morreale, combined with a three-point play in transition by Duke, all contributed to a 17-2 run that gave Muhlenberg a 15-point lead within five minutes of the Bulldogs tying the game.
The Mules finished with 14 threes, two short of the school record, and recorded assists on 20 of their 28 field goals. Gnias
(pictured above) led the way with 6 assists and added 3 steals.