The Muhlenberg men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with a thrilling 77-74 win at Moravian.

Graduate student Dan Gaines and junior Giovanni Rubino each scored 23 points for the Mules, while senior Tommy McGuire recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. 

In a closely contested second half, Muhlenberg took the lead for good at 71-69 on a turnaround jumper in the lane by Gaines with 3:34 left, then used a flurry of offensive rebounds in the final minutes to seal the victory.

With just over two minutes remaining and the score 71-70, Rubino hustled down a missed shot in the corner and tapped it off the leg of a Greyhound player to keep possession with the Mules. Junior Brandon Goldberg got fouled seconds later and made both free throws to extend the lead to three.

It was 75-72 with under a minute to play when Rubino rebounded his own missed shot. The Mules reset, and after Gaines missed a jumper, Goldberg snared the offensive rebound and was fouled going up for a shot with 16.9 ticks showing. He missed both free throws, but McGuire (pictured above) corralled the rebound and was fouled immediately.

McGuire missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Goldberg hustled after the loose ball, and while jumping out of bounds heaved it back to Rubino near halfcourt. Rubino was fouled and sank both free throws to give Muhlenberg a five-point cushion. Moravian made a meaningless shot with eight-tenths of a second remaining to account for the final score.

Rubino scored 17 of his career-high-tying 23 in the first half on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The Mules led by as many as 11 in the first half, at 31-20, before the Greyhounds made five three-pointers in a 15-2 run that put them on top.

Gaines netted 17 of his 23 in the second half, which featured five ties and eight lead changes.

Goldberg finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds, while sophomore Jayson Williams-Johnson had 8 points and 4 assists.