Roaring Lions defeat GA 66-59 for first win of season
McKeesport, PA- A late rally by the Penn State Greater Allegheny Lion basketball team wasn't enough, as the Penn State Fayette Roaring Lions (1-1, 0-0) showed poise down the stretch in a 66 - 59 victory in McKeesport Saturday. After taking a 15 point lead to the locker room, the first 5 minutes again proved its importance, as Greater Allegheny outscored Fayette by 8 in the second stanza.
The first half provided a classic see-saw battle between the two PSUAC teams playing in a nontraditional match-up that had no conference implications. It wasn't until the nine minute mark and Dominick Jackson's (Minneapolis, Minn.) steal, layup, and subsequent free throw that the Roaring Lions took the lead for good. Shortly thereafter, Sophomore guard Luke Williams (Maui, Hawaii) nailed a pair of free throws and a mid-ranged jump shot to fuel a Fayette 20 - 0 run, capped off by a long 3 by Freshman Sean Smoggie (Carmichaels, Pa.). In between Junior Jacob Bronder (Pittsburgh, PA) and guards CJ Gaddis (Brownsville, Pa.) and Derek Jones (Brownsville, Pa.) combined to score the other 13 points.
Greater Allegheny came out of the break strong, outscoring the Lions 15-6 to open the first five minutes of the half. The charge was led by GA's Petrie Addison and Nick Dizon, as the Greater Allegheny Lions pulled within two at the 11:42 mark on a Dizon layup. Addison and Dizon combined for 45 of Greater Allegheny's 59 total points. The Roaring Lions showed poise down the stretch, as they held the lead and controlled the tempo to secure the first victory of the short season. Bronder paced Fayette with 17 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Dominck Jackson (Minneapolis, Minn.) followed Bronder's honors with 10 points, while pulling down four rebounds. Darius Mack (Washington, D.C.) and Luke Williams (Maui, HA) rounded out the scoring with nine and eight respectively, snatching six rebounds apiece.
"Darius and Luke played tremendous games on both ends of the court today, and Jake's inside presence paced our offensive attacks and play calling," praised Coach Mark John.
Fayette was beaten in the rebounding war for the second straight game, which is something that concerns the Roaring Lion coaching staff.
Assistant Coach Jajuan Davis added, "We have to be able to find a man when the shot goes up, as soon as the shot goes up. It's (boxing out and rebounding) the responsibility of the entire team, on both ends of the court."
The Roaring Lions are back in action Saturday, November 16th, as they travel to Salem, WV to take on NCAA DII Salem International University. The game will be broadcast live on WMBS 590 AM radio. Listeners outside of the broadcast range can listen online.