Hot first-half shooting propelled the Muhlenberg men's basketball team to its eighth straight win to start the season, 74-66 at Washington College.

The Mules, who received votes in the D3hoops.com poll this week, have their first 8-0 start in 64 years. They will look to make it 9-0 for the first time since 1944-45 when they return home to play nationally ranked Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

Muhlenberg started out cold from the field and trailed 23-14 midway through the first half. The Mules caught fire from behind the arc, however, going 5-for-6 from three-point range in closing out the half on a 26-8 run.

Junior Michael Morreale and sophomore Dallas Hoffman each drained a pair of threes in the run, which gave Muhlenberg a 40-31 lead at the break.

The lead swelled to 14, at 53-39, when sophomore Nate Henty Brown (pictured above) drove in for a layup at the 13:53 mark of the second half. The Shoremen (2-6, 0-2) slowly climbed back, closing to within two at 62-60 with four minutes to play, but Muhlenberg got four consecutive defensive stops and scored the next eight points to re-establish a double-digit margin.

Sophomore Dan Gaines led a balanced attack with 16 points, adding 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Morreale finshed with 13, while Henty Brown (12) and junior Spencer Duke (11) also scored in double figures. Duke netted all of his points in the second half.

Muhlenberg entered the game as one of 29 remaining undefeated teams in Division III.