Scranton’s Furious Comeback Falls Short to Rival Wilkes-Barre

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a Saturday afternoon road matinee, the Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad dropped a 83-74 conference battle with their local rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre. With the defeat, Scranton sees their overall record fall to 4-5 and in the all-important league play they are now 1-4.

In the ball game it was a tale of two halves, as Wilkes-Barre got off to a dominant red hot start with a 15 point, 38-23, advantage at the end of the first half of play. However, in the game's final 20 minutes of play, the road warrior Lions from Scranton came roaring back, as they outscored Wilkes-Barre by six points, 51-45, to get right back in the game, but in the end, their stalwart second half comeback would fall just a little bit short in their nine point, single digit defeat.

Scranton had three double digit scorers who led the way on offense, as freshman guard Leandro Pena, fellow freshman Fhenyx Scutt, and senior Justin Craigg set the pace for their squad. Pena came off the bench and provided a much needed spark for his ball club in his stellar 20 minutes on the floor, as he scored a team-high 18 points, to go along with his two assists, a rebound, a steal, and shot a highly efficient 8-12 from the field and 1-3 from three point land. Scutt had a quality game as well, as he put up 15 points, five boards, a trio of assists, a steal, and was on fire from beyond the arc connecting on three of his four attempts from downtown. Last but certainly not least, Craigg came off the bench and was solid in his 14 minutes on the court, as he tallied 14 points, two rebounds, a steal, and shot a lights out 6-9 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arc.

Wilke-Barre had four of their players score in double figures in the contest, as senior Anthony Picott, fellow senior Jaymes Jackson, sophomore Rashod Ballard, and junior Jalen Willis led the way on the offensive attack. Picott scored a game-high 31 points, to go along with his four rebounds, two steals, and an assist in his stand-out 36 minutes of work. Jackson came off the bench and provided a nice spark for his ball club, as he notched a double-double, with his 17 points and 10 boards, to go along with his three assists, a steal, and shot a highly efficient 6-9 from the field. Ballard was also solid coming off the bench, as he tallied 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the field and 2-4 from three point land, to go along with his two assists on the day. Finally, Willis had a nice well-rounded game, as he filled up the stat sheet with his 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and four steals in his quality 39 minutes on the court. Overall, these four scorers for Wilkes-Barre combined to score an impressive 70 out of their team's 83 total points in the matchup.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his 4-5 Penn State Scranton men's basketball team will look to snap their mini three game losing streak when they travel on the road this upcoming Monday, December 5^th, to take on a non-conference local school in Clarks Summit University, with tip-off scheduled for 8pm. Meanwhile, head coach LeShawn Hammett and his red hot Wilkes-Barre squad, who are now on a robust four game winning streak that has improved their overall record to a near flawless 7-1 and a perfect 4-0 in league play, will look to continue their victorious ways when they travel on the road this Monday evening at 7pm to take on non-conference school Bucks County Community College.