Scranton Lions Capture 4th Straight Conference Win

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

In a Saturday afternoon home matinee, the Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team came back in the second half to seize their fourth straight victory, all in crucial league play, this time by a nine point, 94-85, margin over conference rival Penn State Greater Allegheny. With this impressive win, Scranton improves their overall record to a red hot 8-3 and they stay perfect in league play with a 4-0 mark.

The road warriors from Allegheny got off to an impressive start and after holding double digit leads for portions of the first half took a five point, 43-38, advantage heading into the break in the action. However, in the contest's final 20-minutes of action, the Lions from Scranton came roaring right back and dominated the second half by outscoring their opponent by a whopping 14 points, 56-42, to capture the nine point triumph when the game's final buzzer sounded.

Scranton was led on the offensive attack by the quartet of stalwart players who put up double digit scoring performances in the battle, as freshman guard Zay Fowlks, senior guard Jaiden Wiggins, freshman forward Mario Olivieri, and junior guard Fhenyx Scutt set the pace for their ball club. Fowlks tallied a game-high 35 points on an efficient 10-21 shooting, was a lethal 8-15 from long distance range, shot 7-10 from the charity stripe, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out a pair of assists while playing in all 40-minutes of the ball game. Wiggins scored 20 points on 8-18 shooting from the field, went 3-5 from beyond the arc, nabbed four boards, and added a steal to boot in his 40-minutes on the court. Olivieri contributed 15 points on 4-8 shooting, went 1-2 from downtown, shot a near flawless 6-7 from the free throw line, and collected five rebounds. Last but certainly not least, Scutt put up 14 points, sunk in a pair of shots from three point land, was a perfect 4-4 on his free throw attempts, dished out eight assists, grabbed six boards, and got two steals in his quality 40-minutes of play.

Meanwhile, Allegheny had a hat trick of players put up stellar double digit scoring performances in the showdown, as senior big man Bryce Phillips, sophomore Seth Evans, and fellow sophomore Elijah Hannon led the way on the offensive side of the ball for their squad. Phillips just missed out on a double-double with his team-high 30 points and nine rebounds, shot 13-22 from the floor, went 1-4 from three point range, and had a trio of assists in his sensational 33-minutes of playing time. Evans had 18 points, shot 3-10 from beyond the arc, was 3-4 from the charity stripe, nabbed five boards, and three assists in his 38-minutes on the floor. Finally, Hannon notched a double-double with his 18 points and 16 rebounds, shot a lights out 8-12 from the field, made both of his free throw attempts, and added an assist for good measure in his terrific 40-minutes of play.

Now first-year head coach Troy Jackson Jr. and his red hot 8-3 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team will look to continue their victorious ways and extend their winning streak to five straight games when they next face off on the road against non-conference foe Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse this upcoming Tuesday night, with tip-off slated for a 7:30pm start time. Scranton will be looking to avenge an earlier season 97-89 home loss to Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse in the tip-off tournament championship game from back on November 16^th. Meanwhile, head coach Denzell London and his 1-9 Penn State Greater Allegheny squad, who hold a 1-3 mark in league play, will look to bounce back and snap their mini two game losing skid when they next host conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre this upcoming Friday night at 8pm.