Scranton Lions Drop Conference Opener

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Friday evening, the visiting Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad lost their conference opener to Penn State Shenango by a score of 93-74. With the loss, Scranton sees their overall record fall to 3-4 and they are 0-1 in the all-important league play schedule.

The hometown Shenango ball club jumped out to a big 26 point, 54-28, advantage heading into the half-time break in the action. In the second half of play, the road warrior Lions from Scranton came roaring back and outscored their opponent by seven points, 46-39, before falling to Shenango by 19 points when the game's final buzzer sounded.

Scranton was led on offense by the dynamic duo of junior big man Marcus Delesline and senior guard Macio Robinson who each scored in double figures in the contest. Delesline notched another double-double with his game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 7-16 from the floor, going an impressive 12-16 from the charity stripe, to go along with a pair of assists, and a block in his stellar 34-minutes of game action. Last but certainly not least, Robinson tallied a solid 21 points, sinking a lethal six shots from three point range, to go along with a couple of steals, two boards, and an assist in his stalwart 38-minutes on the court.

Meanwhile, Shenango had a quartet of players score in double digits during the festivities, as junior Devin Alston, fellow junior D'Montez Owens, junior Cameron Brown, and freshman guard Israel Santiago set the pace for their ball club. Alston came off the bench and provided a nice spark for his team in his quality 18-minutes on the floor, scoring a team-high 24 points on a highly efficient 10-17 shooting from the field, including a red hot 4-6 from downtown, to go along with his six rebounds, a pair of steals, and an assist. Owens tallied 16 points, sinking a three pointer, nabbing seven boards, four assists, and two steals on the night. Brown put up 14 points, six rebounds, a trio of assists, and a steal. Finally, Santiago came off the bench and also provided a nice spark for his club in his 18- minutes on the court, scoring 10 points, connected on a three pointer, grabbed seven boards, four assists, a steal, and a block.

Now first-year head coach Michael Foder and his 3-4 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team will look to bounce back and snap their mini two game losing streak when they next go on the road to take on conference rival Penn State New Kensington on Saturday afternoon, with the matinee scheduled to tip-off at 3pm.