Scranton Lions Fall to Rival Hazleton

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Friday night, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team dropped a tough seven point, 90-83, battle against local conference rival Penn State Hazleton. With this defeat, Scranton sees their overall record move to 7-11, they are 5-5 on their home court, and they are now 4-5 in their all-important league play schedule so far this season.

In the first half of play, Scranton got off to an electrifying start and took a six point, 47-41, advantage into the break in the action. However, in the contest's final 20-minutes, the Lions from Hazleton came roaring right back and outscored Scranton by a robust 13 points, 49-36, in the second half, as they would celebrate their seven point road triumph when the game clock hit all zeroes.

Scranton was led on the offensive attack by a trio of players scoring in double figures during the festivities, as stand-out senior sharp shooting guard Fhenyx Scutt, junior guard Elijah Bryant, and senior All-American guard Jaiden Wiggins set the pace for their ball club. Scutt tallied a game-high 24 points on 7-13 shooting from the floor, sinking in 3-7 from three point land, going a near flawless 7-8 from the charity stripe, while dishing out seven assists, and nabbing a pair of rebounds. Bryant contributed a rock solid 17 points on 7-14 shooting, going 3-7 from long distance range, and grabbed a hat trick of boards. Last but certainly not least, Wiggins put up 14 points on 3-14 shooting from the field, going a near perfect 8-9 on his free throw attempts, to go along with his eight rebounds, and a quartet of assists.

Meanwhile, Hazleton had an awe-inspiring five players score in double digits in the showdown, as senior guard Andre Campbell, junior forward Tyshaun Dukes, senior guard Shamell Ponds, fellow senior guard Saivon Pressley, and junior forward Axcel Kamanga led the way on the offensive side of the ball for their squad. Campbell notched a team-high 21 points on a lights out 9-13 shooting from the floor, making 1-3 of his shots from downtown, converted on both of his free throws, while collecting four boards, and dishing out two assists. Dukes scored 14 points, all in the first half, before leaving the game due to injury, as he shot 6-13 from the field, made both of his free throw shots, hauling in eight rebounds, and added an assist for good measure. Ponds recorded 13 points on 3-6 shooting, making 7-9 from the free throw line, and added a couple of boards to boot. Pressley put up a high quality double-double with his 10 points on 3-9 shooting, picking up 10 rebounds, making 2-5 on the three ball, sunk in both of his free throws, and had an assist. Finally, Kamanga came off the bench and did a nice job scoring 10 points on an efficient 4-8 shooting from the floor, going 1-3 from beyond the arc, and grabbed three boards on the night.

Now head coach Troy Jackson Jr. and his 7-11 Penn State Scranton Lions men's basketball team will look to bounce back from this tough defeat to Hazleton and return to their winning ways when they are next scheduled to host league rival Penn State Lehigh Valley this Monday evening at 8pm, pending the anticipated heavy snow storm that is supposed to hit Northeastern Pennsylvania this weekend that might postpone the upcoming matchup. Meanwhile, head coach Robbie Hopkins and his 8-10 Penn State Hazleton squad, who are now back to .500 with a 5-5 mark in crucial league play, will look to continue their victorious ways when they next host conference foe Penn State Mont Alto for a scheduled 8pm tip-off this Monday night that might also get postponed due to the expected inclement weather.