Scranton Drops Road Conference Showdown with DuBois

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a Sunday afternoon matinee, the Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad lost a tough 80-37 road conference battle to Penn State Du Bois. With the loss, Scranton's overall record falls to 4-9 and 1-7 in the all-important league play schedule.

Du Bois got off to a red hot start to seize control of the ball game early and never looked back, as they outscored the road warriors from Scranton 39-17 by the end of the first half, and in the contest's final 20 minutes, outpaced them 41-20 to pave the way for their dominant 43 point triumph by the final whistle of play.

On the day, Scranton was held to only one lone player to score in double figures, as freshman big man Chase Medina led the way on the offensive attack. Medina came off the bench and provided a much needed spark for his ball club in his stalwart 24 minutes of action, as he scored a team-high 13 points on a highly efficient 6-8 shooting from the field, to go along with his five rebounds. Honorable mention also goes to senior forward Justin Craigg, as he just missed out on scoring in double digits, with his nine points, to go along with his three steals on defense and sinking in 1-3 of his three point attempts from beyond the arc in his 23 minutes on the floor.

The hometown Du Bois squad was led on offense by the dynamic duo of junior guard Jaiquil Johnson and junior center Guy Anthony. Johnson scored a game-high 16 points, 12 of them coming from his lethal 4-8 shooting from three point land, to go along with a rebound and an assist in 20 minutes on the court. Last but certainly not least, Anthony was a powerful low post presence all game long, as he notched a double-double, with his 13 points and 10 boards, to go along with a steal and a block, while shooting a lights out 6-9 from the field in his 20 minutes of play.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad will look to snap their seven game losing streak in their next matchup, when they continue their road trip and play a Martin Luther King Day matinee against conference foe Penn State Greater Allegheny on Monday with a scheduled 3pm tip-off. Meanwhile, for head coach Dylan Howard and his Penn State Du Bois ball club, who with the victory over Scranton see their overall record improve to 7-10 and 4-5 in league play, will look to push their winning streak to three straight games when they host conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre this Monday night, with tip-off at 7pm.