Patch went 10-for-14 from the field and posted his fifth double-double of the season while Kevin Cuff also tallied 22 points as the Crusaders (14-7 overall, 6-4 Commonwealth) moved into a three-way tie with Juniata and Widener for second place in the conference standings with four games remaining.
Andy Gaebel added 13 points off the bench for Susquehanna, which led 43-28 at halftime only to see the Greyhounds (10-11 overall, 3-7 Commonwealth) pull within 59-57 with 10:46 remaining.
Mark Franzyshen led Moravian with 15 points and seven rebounds while Chris Earley added 11 points and Steve Wenderfer 10 points, but the Greyhounds connected on just 4-of-24 shots from three-point range and shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) from the field in the contest.
Patch, who scored 18 points in the first half alone, surpassed his career high of 19 points set at Scranton on Jan. 7, while his 11 rebounds broke his personal best set three times this season. Patch has scored in double figures in each of the last nine games, and has averaged 16.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game over that span with four double-doubles and five other games with at least eight rebounds.
After trailing 6-2 early, the Crusaders went on a 16-2 run to take an 18-8 lead on a basket by Patch with 14:30 left in the first half. Moravian pulled within 35-28 on a layup by Franzyshen with 1:58 left in the half, but Patch scored the final eight points of the half to send the Crusaders to intermission with a 43-28 lead.
Susquehanna held a 53-42 lead following two foul shots by Cuff with 13:23 to go, but the Greyhounds rallied to within 59-57 on a three-pointer by Michael Clemente with 10:46 left. However, Gaebel answered with a three-pointer to push the Susquehanna lead to 62-57 with 10:30 to go.
Moravian again cut the Susquehanna advantage to two points as Eric Whitman sank two foul shots with 3:34 left to bring the Greyhounds to within 70-68, but Bryan Majors hit a pair of free throws and Cuff added a foul shot to push the Crusaders ahead 73-68 with 2:56 remaining.
The Greyhounds trimmed the Crusader lead to 73-70 on a layup by Earley with 1:23 left, and after a turnover Moravian had the ball with a chance to tie or pull within one, but missed four straight shots and Brad Okonak sank two free throws with 23 seconds to play to give Susquehanna a 75-70 cushion.
Majors scored seven points, dished out five assists and made a game-high five steals to play a large role in forcing the Greyhounds in 25 turnovers. Okonak started for the Crusaders and finished with six points, five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action.
Whitman tallied seven points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Greyhounds, who finished with a 46-36 advantage on the boards over the Crusaders. Ryan Miller added nine points, six rebounds and five assists for Moravian while Matt Devlin chipped in with eight points and three boards in 14 minutes off the bench.
Susquehanna finished the game at 40 percent (24-for-60) from the field and drilled 23-of-29 foul shots, including a 10-for-11 performance at the stripe by Cuff.
SUSQUEHANNA 76, MORAVIAN 70 SUSQUEHANNA (14-7, 6-4 Comm.) Kevin Cuff 5-13 10-11 22; Joel Patch 10-14 2-2 22; Andy Gaebel 5-13 2-2 13; Bryan Majors 2-6 3-6 7; Brad Okonak 1-8 3-4 6; Zac Smith 1-4 2-2 5; Marcus Burke 0-0 1-2 1; Matt McDevitt 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Andersen 0-1 0-0 0; Chad Cohle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 23-29 76. MORAVIAN (10-11, 3-7 Comm.) Mark Franzyshen 5-7 5-7 15; Chris Earley 5-9 1-3 11; Steve Wenderfer 3-7 4-4 10; Ryan Miller 4-12 0-0 9; Matt Devlin 4-5 0-0 8; Eric Whitman 2-9 2-3 7; Greg Jones 2-5 0-1 4; Eric Weaver 1-4 0-0 3; Michael Clemente 1-6 0-0 3; Chris Bays 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 12-18 70. Susquehanna................... 43 33 - 76 Moravian...................... 28 42 - 70 3-point goals-Susquehanna 5-16 (Kevin Cuff 2-2; Andy Gaebel 1-6; Zac Smith 1-1; Brad Okonak 1-6; Bryan Majors 0-1), Moravian 4-24 (Eric Whitman 1-7; Michael Clemente 1-6; Eric Weaver 1-1; Ryan Miller 1-6; Greg Jones 0-2; Steve Wenderfer 0-1; Chris Earley 0-1). Fouled out--Susquehanna-None, Moravian-None. Rebounds-Susquehanna 36 (Joel Patch 12), Moravian 46 (Eric Whitman 9). Assists-Susquehanna 13 (Bryan Majors 5), Moravian 14 (Ryan Miller 5). Total fouls-Susquehanna 19, Moravian 20. A-423