Scranton Lions Drop Conference Battle to Allegheny

by Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

DUNMORE, Pa. - On Friday evening, after a long 34 day holiday and end of the semester break, the Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad returned to the court and dropped an 89-84 thrilling home nail-biter to conference foe Penn State Greater Allegheny. With this defeat to kick-off their 2024 slate of games, Scranton sees their overall record fall to 4-10 and they are 0-7 in their all-important league play schedule.

At the end of the first half of play, the hometown Lions from Scranton held a hard fought, slim one point advantage, 39-38, heading into the break in the action. However in the contest's last 20-minutes, the road warriors from Allegheny came roaring right back and outscored Scranton 51-45 to ensure their tight five point triumph when the game's final buzzer sounded.

Scranton had a quartet of players score in double figures in the battle, as junior big man Marcus Delesline, senior guard Macio Robinson, sophomore guard Fhenyx Scutt, and junior guard Jaiden Wiggins set the pace offensively for their ball club. Delesline scored a game-high 29 points on a highly efficient 10-18 shooting from the field, went 2-3 from downtown, 7-10 from the charity stripe, to go along with his seven rebounds, a trio of steals on defense, and a pair of assists in his stellar 29-minutes on the court. Robinson tallied 17 points, made two of his shots from beyond the arc, and added a rebound, and an assist as well. Scutt put up 14 points, going 3-7 from long distance range, to go along with his six boards, a hat trick of assists, and a steal to boot. Last but certainly not least, Wiggins came off the bench and provided a nice spark in his 27-minutes of play, scoring 11 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor, made a three pointer, and grabbed six rebounds, an assist, and a steal for good measure.

Meanwhile, Allegheny had all five of their starters put up impressive double digit scoring performances, as juniors Jeremiah Miller, Christopher Killings, Bryce Phillips, Damon Gamble, and Devin Green led the way on the offensive side of the ball. Miller scored a team-high 17 points on a lethal 6-7 shooting from the field, collected nine boards, three assists, and a steal in his 26-minutes of playing time. Killings also nearly notched a double-double with his 17 points and nine rebounds, went 4-7 from beyond the arc, a flawless 3-3 from the free throw line, and added a quartet of assists, and a couple of steals on the defensive end. Phillips provided a solid low post presence throughout the game with his dominant double-double of 15 points and 11 boards, picked up a pair of assists, and a steal. Gamble tallied 14 points on 6-11 shooting, went 2-5 from three point range, had two steals, and a rebound during the festivities. Finally, Green also scored 14 points, sunk in a three pointer, had four assists, a trio of boards, and a pair of steals in his 34-minutes of action.

Now first-year head coach Michael Foder and his 4-10 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad will look to bounce back and snap their four game losing skid and capture their first crucial conference victory of the hoops season when they next host league rival Penn State Du Bois in a Saturday afternoon matinee, with a 3pm scheduled tip-off time.