Men's Basketball Seniors Dominated This Year
The Fayette men's basketball team finished the season with an overall record of 17-12 and a PSUAC record of 14-4. This was Fayette's best finish in school history. The Fayette's men's basketball team had their ups and downs this season, starting off the season slow losing 7 of their first 10 games. The Roaring Lions ended their fall semester on a high note beating 6th place Penn State Dubois 96 to 84. They came back determined to have a better second half of the season in the spring. Fayette's first opponent would be a formidable one, Point Park, a DII NAIA school. The Fayette men played Point Park tight all game, but were unable to pull out the victory in the end losing 90 to 84. Despite losing, Fayette went on a 6 game winning streak to finish off the regular season winning 10 of 13 games. The Roaring Lions went into the playoffs on fire, earning themselves a first round bye. Fayette was set to take on Penn State York in the PSUAC semi-finals. York played Fayette close all game forcing a five minute overtime, yet the Roaring Lions dominated in overtime scoring 16 points to York's 7. With this big overtime win, Fayette advanced themselves into the PSUAC championship. The Roaring Lions would take on 1st place Penn State Mont Alto at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park. Fayette and Mont Alto played a tight scoring game all night with Fayette holding the lead at halftime. Both teams came out strong going back and forth, however, Mont Alto pulled out a heart breaking victory. With an outstanding season, the Roaring Lions earned themselves the number 7 seed in the USCAA National Basketball Tournament. The Roaring Lions took on the 10th seed Central Maine Community College. Coming out strong, the Fayette men posted a commanding victory 93 to 81. With this win, the Fayette basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals to face the 2nd seed Central Penn College. Fayette went into halftime with a lead of 50 to 47. Unfortunately, Central Penn came out strong to force a 5 minute overtime. Fayette was unable to overcome the early deficit, falling to Central Penn College in overtime 110 to 102. Fayette finished up their season in the consolation game with a rematch of the PSUAC championship, playing Penn State Mont Alto. The Roaring Lions came out and dominated from start to finish, beating Mont Alto with a score of 116 to 91.
The three seniors were a huge part of the success of the Roaring Lions season. Luke Williams, Brandon Cunningham and C.J. Gaddis led the way in all major offensive and defensive statistical categories. C.J. Gaddis led the Roaring Lions this season in assists as well as minutes played. Gaddis finished the season with 974 minutes played and 113 assists. He finished 3rd overall in the PSUAC and 8th in the USCAA in assists. C.J. Gaddis has set the single season record for most assists in one season, tallying 182 assists in 2014-2015. Gaddis is also the only player to break 100 assists in a season. Over his four years with the Roaring Lions, he's recorded 100 assists or more in 3 of the 4 seasons. Gaddis set career highs this season scoring 410 points and averaging 14.1 PPG. Gaddis would finish his career with 940 total points. C.J. Gaddis would also finish his career with 2752 minutes played, the most by any player in Fayette history.
Brandon Cunningham played a crucial part in the success of the Roaring Lions this season. Cunningham netted 226 field goals on the season as well as 77 three pointers for a team high. He also led in multiple defensive categories. Cunningham led in offensive rebounds (35) and defensive rebounds (139) grabbing a team lead this season with 174 total rebounds, acquiring him 10th in the PSUAC. Brandon recorded 100 or more rebounds in all three years that he played. Cunningham led in blocks with 22 on the season as well as steals with 60. He finished 3rd in the PSUAC in steals. He holds the single season record for most steals in a season with 68 in 2012-2013. Cunningham also recorded 60 or more steals in all three seasons. He set career highs in both PPG as well as total points, averaging 21.3 PPG and netting a total of 617 points on the year. He scored over 500 points in two out of three years. Cunningham finished 2nd in the PSUAC and 3rd in the USCAA in total points. Brandon is also impressively a member of the 1000 point club. With his spectacular play over the past three years, Brandon Cunningham went on to set the all-time scoring record for Penn State Fayette with 1557 points.
Luke Williams was one of the Roaring Lions best offensive players all year. Williams made 132 free throws, enough to lead his team this season. He would finish 2nd on the team in field goals made (216), racked in 136 rebounds, and snagged 10 steals. Williams finished the season 4th in the PSUAC and 9th in the USCAA averaging 21.4 PPG, a career high for him. In the three years that Williams played, he scored over 350 points every year. This season, Luke was welcomed into the 1000 point club, achieving this in only 5 semesters. He led the Roaring Lions in scoring, with 620 points which awarded him with the record for most points in a season by a single player. Luke broke this record previously held by Matt McKenna (619) in the last game of his career against Penn State Mont Alto when he scored 23 points. Williams finished 1st in the PSUAC in points scored and 2nd in the USCAA.
All three seniors this year contributed in a huge way to the team's success finishing off their careers strong. On behalf of the Penn State Fayette Athletic Department, we would like to congratulate C.J. Gaddis, Luke Williams and Brandon Cunningham on their outstanding accomplishments. We would also like to wish them the best of luck in the future endeavors.