Fayette Uses Hot Shooting Night to Improve to 5-0 in PSUAC Play
LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. -- Coming off of an emotional win the day before, the Roaring Lions opened up the scoring and played a "Fayette" brand of defense in the second half of Sunday afternoon's game to take control of Sunday's PSUAC matchup with against Penn State Worthington. Fayette prevailed 91-58 to remain perfect in the PSUAC.
Fayette broke open a tight game at halftime, which found then leaded by just four points, 45-41, at the break,
Senior guard Brandon Cunningham (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) posted a game high 26 points, 20 of them coming in the second half. Scoring was once again balanced for the Roaring Lions, with three other Fayette players tallying double figures. Following Cunningham was senior forwards Matt McKenna (Pittsburgh, Pa.) with 16 and Jacob Bronder (Pleasant Hills, Pa.) with 15. Junior guard Luke Williams (Lahaina, Hawaii) posted 10 points for the Lions while adding three assists, three rebounds, and three steals to the stat sheet.
"Our scoring has been balanced in most our games this season," Fayette Head Coach Mark John said. "Movement and movement without the ball is contributing to the high numbers we're seeing on the scoreboard," John continued.
The coach had high praise for the team's chemistry and how it provides balanced scoring each night.
"They share the ball because they care about each other. The way thye interact with each other off the court certainly has an effect on the court," he noted.
Junior point guard CJ Gaddis (Brownsville, Pa.) continued his solid floor performance, dishing out eight assists to keep him atop the USCAA DII in assists per game. Fellow Junior Tony Bristol (Charleroi, Pa.) continued to contribute in all facets of the game, going 2-3 from the field (1-1 from three-point range), grabbing three rebounds, distributing an assist, and finding a steal.
Sophomore forward Sean Smoggie, Carmichaels, Pa.) Carmichaels, He came in off the bench early in the second half to grab two huge rebounds. "Smoggie does a great job utilizing the minutes he gets. He always seems to contribute in a big way at a big time," said Assistant Coach Jajuan Davis.
Freshman Mario Reeves (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had another outstanding performance, scoring eight off of the bench and snatching four rebounds. Reeves currently finds himself in the top five shooters in the nation in both field goal and three-point shooting percentage.
"With all of the scoring plays and noticeable instances during the game, it's easy to overlook the little things. Dierre (Jenkins) did an outstanding job boxing out their top rebounder, allowing his teammates to come down with the ball on the stat sheet," said John. "Those kind of things usually go without credit, but from the bench we saw the work (Jenkins) put in," added John.
Bronder led the Roaring Lions in the rebounding column with nine. Other Roaring Lions in the scoring column include freshmen Donnie Henderson (Ringgold, Pa.) with four points, Cody Thomas (Uniontown, Pa.) and Zac Cooney (Berlin, Pa.) with two points apiece. Freshman guard Jeffrey Waters (Jacksonville, Fla.) contributed big minutes defensively in the first half, before returning in the second half to shell out a nice assist to Thomas
The Roaring Lions are back in action Tuesday night, when they host PSUAC West foe Penn State New Kensington at 7:00 PM at the Community Center's Main Arena. A live audio stream can be found at: http://goroaringlions.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/schedule.
a