Chad Kratzer boosts his scoring, rebounding, and playmaking in recent weeks, providing crucial leadership for the Moravian University men’s basketball team as they chase a spot in the Landmark Conference tournament.
The Greyhounds stand at 13-8 overall and 7-7 in conference play, tied with Susquehanna for sixth place. The top six teams advance to the postseason tournament with two weeks left in the regular season.
Kratzer’s Recent Surge
Allentown Central Catholic alumnus Kratzer elevates his game down the stretch, posting averages of 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists across his last six outings. He drops 26 points in a victory over Susquehanna and notches a career-high nine assists against Elizabethtown.
Despite Kratzer’s efforts, the Greyhounds go 2-4 during this period. They blow a 16-point halftime lead in a loss at Scranton and fall 97-69 to conference-leading Catholic. Senior guard Porter Kelly, the team’s second-leading scorer at 18.0 points per game, sits out with an injury.
Interim coach Michael Mayes relies on Kratzer to unify the squad. “The camaraderie on the team is just better with his mental state,” Mayes states. “He’s become a better leader, and he’s become just a better guy to want to coach and play with night in and night out.”
As a senior guard, Kratzer remains a prolific three-point shooter, topping the Greyhounds with 69 makes on 186 attempts at 37.1% accuracy. He improves teammate involvement, raising assists to 3.0 per game from 2.2 last season while cutting turnovers to 2.5 from 3.0. Kratzer records at least three assists in four consecutive games.
Results outweigh stats for Kratzer amid Moravian’s inconsistent conference showing. “There’s always going to be ups and downs in basketball; that’s just how the game works,” Kratzer says. “Whether we have a good week or a bad week, we can’t let one loss lead to another loss, and we can’t let one win make us get too high. It’s really just weathering things and making sure we stay even-keeled throughout the season, because we do play in a really, really tough conference.”
Moravian navigates the toughest conference stretch. Three of four remaining foes post sub-.500 records in league and overall play; Drew (10-4 Landmark) stands as the outlier.
Mayes emphasizes defense in the final weeks. The Greyhounds run one of the conference’s top offenses at 45.5% shooting. Solid defense keeps them competitive.
Mindset proves key for Kratzer. “It’s having that belief that we know we’re the better team,” he explains. “We know what we need to do in order to win these games. It’s executing the game plan every game. We can go in and do our own thing, or we can go in with the mentality that we’re going to win these games, we should win these games, execute the game plan and do what we have to do to ensure that we have a spot in this year’s Landmark playoffs.”
Playoff Positioning Updates
DeSales men (13-8 overall, 8-2 MAC Freedom) earn a 54-point, nine-three combo from Jayden Thomas (Parkland) and Luke Keppel (Whitehall) in Saturday’s win at FDU-Florham. The Bulldogs stretch their streak to five games and lock in a four-team conference tournament berth.
DeSales women (15-6 overall, 9-1 MAC Freedom) clinch their tournament spot with a Saturday victory over FDU-Florham. Winners of six straight, the Bulldogs mark their 29th consecutive playoff qualification.
Muhlenberg men (11-10 overall, 4-5 Centennial) hold a one-game edge for the sixth and final Centennial Conference tournament slot with four games remaining.
Muhlenberg women (10-11, 5-6 Centennial) share a three-way tie for the last tournament position. Four games remain in coach Ron Rohn’s final season at the helm.
Key Notes
Moravian women host Lycoming on Saturday for Play4Kay Cancer Awareness Day. The Greyhounds lead NCAA Division III in Kay Yow Cancer Fund fundraising for 17 straight years, raising $20,302 in the 2024-25 season.
Talia Zurinskas (Parkland) starts every game for Lafayette women (8-15 overall, 4-8 Patriot League), averaging 10.2 points and leading with 3.8 assists per game.
