Roaring Lions Go Perfect in PSUAC Play on Senior Night
Lemont Furnace, PA - Unofficially, the Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus Men's Basketball team won every PSUAC game they played, capping off the regular season with a 73-66 win over Penn State Mont Alto.
Saturday's Senior Night festivities at the Community Center's Main Arena proved to be emotional for Matt McKenna, Dierre Jenkins, and Jacob Bronder, the Roaring Lions' trio of Senior student-athletes. Having not lost a game on the court since November 24, the Roaring Lions looked to remain perfect in PSUAC play Saturday in a back and forth battle to the finish. Fayette came into the game hoping to culminate a season that was filled with adversity, and they did just that.
With 12 seconds remaining in regulation, "un-de-feat-ed" chants rang from the home crowd, and the Roaring Lions finished conference play unofficially perfect.
Mont Alto led most of the game, and took a seven point lead into the locker room. The first half started slow for the Roaring Lions offensively, but they proved to hold their own on the defensive side of the court. Fayette held Mont Alto to just 31 points, but could only muster 26 of its own. Averaging over 90 points per game, the Roaring Lions found themselves in unfamiliar territory. McKenna kept Fayette on pace with Mont Alto, chipping in 13 of his game high 24 points in the first. McKenna also grabbed nine boards in the first half, going into the locker room facing a 31-24 deficit.
"CJ (Gaddis, Junior point guard) told me just before the second half not to worry, that we had everything under control," commented Head Coach Mookie John. John added, "he had this calm look and demeanor about him, and I flashed back to the Wilkes Barre game when he told me that Wilkes Barre wasn't going to beat us because they couldn't out-work us." Gaddis must have felt something special was about to happen, because he exploded for 18 points and six assists in the second half, getting Fayette into its transition game and spreading the ball around.
Fayette trailed by as many as nine early in the second half, before the Roaring Lions went on a run of their own at the 16:00 mark. Down 40-31, McKenna, Bronder, and Gaddis combined for the next ten Roaring Lion points, as Fayette rattled off a much needed 9-2 run.
Fayette made another move with just under 12:00 remaining when Sophomore guard Tony Bristol stole the ball, found Gaddis, who found Bronder for a layup, and the Roaring Lions finally found themselves tied for the first time in the game at 46.
Another layup by Bristol, and one by McKenna Fayette attained a lead they would only relinquish one more time. Trailing 51-50, a layup by Bronder, a three by Jenkins, and another by Junior guard Luke Williams gave Fayette the momentum they needed to finish the game. Keeping their proverbial foot on the pedal, the Roaring Lions got quick buckets from Gaddis, McKenna, and Bronder, and several made free throws down the stretch by McKenna and Gaddis.
The Roaring Lions are mathematically eliminated from the PSUAC playoffs, but eagerly await the USCAA National Tournament held March 3-7 at Penn State Fayette.