Scranton Lions Fall to Fayette

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Friday night, the visiting Penn State Scranton Lion men's basketball team dropped a tough six point road battle, 85-79, to conference rival Penn State Fayette. With the hard fought loss, Scranton sees their overall record go to 4-8 and they are now 0-5 in the all-important league play schedule.

The hometown Fayette squad got off to a strong start with a seven point advantage, 44-37, heading into the half-time locker room. However, the road warriors from Scranton would come roaring right back and outscored their opponent by a mere point, 42-41, in the second half of play before seeing their valiant comeback attempt fall just short in Fayette's six point triumph when the game clock hit all zeroes.

The Lions from Scranton had a trio of players score in double figures during the festivities, as senior guard Macio Robinson, junior big man Marcus Delesline, and fellow junior Jaiden Wiggins set the pace offensively for their ball club. Robinson scored a stellar game-high 29 points on 10-27 shooting from the floor, including connecting on six of his shots from three point land, to go along with his quartet of rebounds, an assist, and a steal to boot while playing in all 40-minutes of the contest. Delesline just missed out on notching another double-double with his solid 15 points and eight boards, shooting a red hot 7-11 from the field, made his only three point attempt of the night, and added a steal for good measure in his 19-minutes of play. Last but certainly not least, Wiggins came off the bench and provided a nice spark for his team in his 32-minutes on the court, recording an impressive double-double of his own with his 14 points and 12 rebounds, had four assists, and a steal.

Meanwhile, Fayette had four players put up double digit scoring performances on the evening, as freshman forward Darius Tigner, senior Torian Jenkins, fellow senior Dasilas Jones, and sophomore guard Jahmere Richardson led the way for their squad. Tigner scored a team-high 21 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor, went 7-9 from the charity stripe, grabbed five boards, and a steal in just 16-minutes of game action. Jenkins tallied 18 points, eight rebounds, a whopping four blocks on the defensive side of the ball, a pair of steals, and an assist. Jones notched a double-double with his 16 points and 10 boards, shot a quality 7-13 from the field, made a three pointer, had seven assists, a couple of steals, and a block. Finally, Richardson put up a rock solid 13 points, made one shot from long range, picked up a quartet of blocks, a hat trick of rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals in his 32-minutes on the court.

Now first-year head coach Michael Foder and his 4-8 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team will look to bounce back and snap their mini two game losing streak and capture their first victories this season in crucial conference play and on the road when they travel this Saturday afternoon to take on league foe Penn State Beaver, with tip-off for the matinee scheduled for a 3pm start time.