Young's double-doubles carry MBB to weekend sweep

Young's double-doubles carry MBB to weekend sweep

Lemont Furnace, PA - The Penn State Fayette men's basketball team moved to within a half-game of second place in the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference West division after sweeping two home games over the weekend.

Friday night, Fayette (7-8 overall, 6-4 PSUAC) downed Penn State Brandywine (2-13, 2-8), 81-76, and defeated Penn State Lehigh Valley (1-14, 1-8) Saturday, 66-54.

"Friday, we continued to be inconsistent on offense, especially with taking care of the ball," said first year head coach Marcus Thomas. "We constantly preach our defensive identity, but it is challenging for any team when giving up the ball as much as we did.  It allowed them to stay in the game and make a late run and we are fortunate to have made a few more plays down the stretch to get the win."

Fayette shot 60% (30-50) from the floor while Brandywine shot 44% (30-68), but Fayette's 20 turnovers contributed to Brandywine's 18-shot advantage in the game.

Iman Young (Silver Springs, MD/West Potomac HS) finished with 26 points after making 11 of 12 shot attempts and grabbed 13 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the season.

With the game tied 70-70 with 3:06 to go, Fayette pulled the game out.

Tavian Mozie (McClellandtown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS) drained a three with 2:46 to play to give Fayette a three-point lead and the hosts hit three of four free throws down the stretch to win.

Dom Boring (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster HS) finished with 19 points while both Mozie and Trevor Laskody (Morgantown, WV/Trinity Christian HS) each scored 14.

Bryce Barrouk led Brandywine with 22 points.

Defense was the key to the win Saturday and Thomas shared his thoughts.

"Our defense was the reason we were able to get another big win as we struggled on offense since our shots were not falling," he said. "I am sure fatigue played a role in that, but we were able to control the game with our defense.  We forced a ton of contested shots and limited them on the offensive glass.  We are starting to learn how tough it is to win basketball games and we are pleased to get two wins this weekend."

Mozie led Fayette with 21 points while Young recorded his eighth double-double after scoring 17 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

Hesro Johnson III led Lehigh Valley with 18 points.

Fayette heads on the road this coming weekend as it goes to Penn State Schuylkill (7-8, 7-2) Friday and Penn State Hazleton (4-8, 4-4) Saturday.

Both games start at 8 PM.

"We have another huge road trip next weekend," Thomas said. "We need to get better this week so we can get a couple of wins this weekend out East."

For more information on the men's basketball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index or follow us on Instagram @fayetteathletics.