Scranton Lions Basketball Captures Their First Win of the Season

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

In a Saturday afternoon road matinee, the visiting Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad earned their first victory of the young hoops season by soundly defeating non-conference foe Westmoreland County Community College by 11 points, 96-85. This big bounce back win in their first road tilt came just one day after losing by just six points, 85-79, on Friday night in their hard fought home opener to Bryant & Stratton-Cleveland.

The road warriors from Scranton jumped out to a red hot fast start with their sizeable eight point cushion, 44-36, heading into the half-time break in the action. However, the hometown Westmoreland team would battle back and only were outscored by a mere three points, 52-49, in the all-important second half of play before falling by an overwhelming 11 point margin to the Lions when the game clock hit all zeroes.

The Lions from Scranton were led on the offensive attack by a quartet of their stalwart basketball players who all scored in double figures, as freshman forward Mario Olivieri, freshman guard Zay Fowlks, senior guard Xavier Noble, and fellow senior guard Jaiden Wiggins set the pace for their ball club. Olivieri tallied a team-high 23 points, Fowlks scored a solid 21 points, Noble came off the bench and provided a nice spark for his team also putting up a high quality 21 point performance, and last but certainly not least, Wiggins contributed 17 points on the day.

Meanwhile, Westmoreland also had four of their players score in double digits in the contest, as freshman forward Jaisean Blackman, sophomore guard Tyler Travillion, freshman guard Nathan Papuga, and fellow freshman Colin Masten all had stellar ball games. Blackman just missed out on a near double-double, as he tallied 27 points and nine rebounds, to go along with a trio of assists, two steals, shot a highly efficient 10-17 from the field, and was a scorching hot 7-9 from three point land. Travillion recorded 14 points, went 3-8 from beyond the arc, had six assists, five boards, and added a steal for good measure. Papuga had 13 points on a quality 4-6 shooting from the field, including draining three out of his four shots from long distance range, and sinking in both of his free throw shots, to go along with a hat trick of assists, a couple of rebounds, and a pair of steals to boot. Finally, Masten scored 11 points, went 3-8 from downtown, had a game-high eight assists, nabbed five boards, and a steal in his impressive outing.

Now coming off of his first collegiate win, rookie head coach Troy Jackson and his 1-1 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad will look to continue their winning ways when they go on the road against a nearby non-conference foe in the electric city this Monday night at 6pm versus the Lackawanna College Falcons. Meanwhile, head coach Scott Morrison and his 0-1 Westmoreland County Community College Wolfpack basketball team will look to bounce back from their season opening defeat when they next take on the Community College of Allegheny County at Beaver County Community College this upcoming Friday night with tip-off slated for a 5pm start time.