Scranton Earns Dominant First Conference Victory

by Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

DUNMORE, Pa. - On a Saturday afternoon in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team trounced league foe Penn State Du Bois by a score of 93-81 to capture their first conference win of the hoops season. With the big win, the Lions from Scranton snapped their four game losing streak and improved their overall record to 5-10 and 1-7 in their all-important league play schedule, as well as showing their dominance on their home court with a 5-2 mark.

In the first half of play, Scranton seized control of the contest and never looked back, as they took a robust 20 point, 52-32, advantage into the half-time break in the action. In the game's final 20 minutes, the road warriors from Du Bois roared back and outscored their opponent 49-41, however, it was too little too late, as when the game clock hit all zeroes, Scranton would prevail for the impressive 12 point home triumph.

Scranton had a whopping four of their players score in double figures in the battle, as senior guard Macio Robinson, junior big man Marcus Delesline, fellow junior Jaiden Wiggins, and sophomore guard Fhenyx Scutt set the pace on the offensive side of the ball. Robinson scored a game-high 33 points, 22 coming in the first half, on 11-20 shooting from the field, including going a lethal 5-7 from beyond the arc, as well as a near perfect 6-7 from the charity stripe, to go along with his five assists, a trio of steals on defense, and a pair of rebounds in his stellar 37-minutes of game action. Delesline notched another stalwart double-double with his 28 points and 13 boards, shooting an efficient 12-21 from the floor, a flawless 4-4 from the free throw line, to go along with his quartet of assists, and a steal to boot. Wiggins came off the bench and provided a nice spark in his 27 minutes of work, putting up 12 points, five rebounds, an assist, and a steal for good measure. Last but certainly not least, Scutt had a near double-double of his own, tallying 11 points and nine assists, on 4-8 shooting from the field, going 3-6 from long distance range, and added a couple of steals and three boards in his top notch 32-minutes on the court.

Meanwhile, Du Bois had a hat trick of players score in double digits in the matinee, as freshman point guard Kaleb Pryor, senior guard Jaiquil Johnson, and junior forward Beau Verdill led the way offensively for their ball club. Pryor scored a team-high 26 points on 9-18 shooting from the floor, hitting on 4-9 of his shots from downtown, sinking in all of his four free throw attempts, to go along with six steals, and four rebounds while playing all 40-minutes of the contest. Johnson contributed a solid 21 points on a lights out 8-10 shooting from the floor, making a three pointer, and going 4-4 from the charity stripe, to go along with his trio of assists, and a pair of boards in just 19-minutes of play. Finally, Verdill came off the bench and provided a much needed spark in his 31-minutes on the court, picking up 16 points, half of those coming from the free throw line, and grabbed eight rebounds, two assists, and a couple of steals on the defensive side of the ball.

Now first-year head coach Michael Foder and his 5-10 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball squad will look to continue their winning ways when they next host local conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre this Tuesday night in a prime time 8pm showdown. The Lions will be looking for some revenge, as earlier in the season, back on December 2^nd, Scranton dropped a 94-71 road contest to Wilkes-Barre.