Beaver rallies past DuBois in first conference win, 77-55

By: Matylda Zamudio 

DuBois, Pa. -- A solid defensive first half performance propelled Penn State Beaver to take down Penn State DuBois 77-55 on the road Tuesday night, securing the team's first PSUAC conference win of the season.

Junior guard John Foster (Austin/Del Valle) scored a game-high 22 points for Beaver. Freshman forward/center Jeremy Redwine (Merced) earned a double-double tonight with 20 points and 12 rebounds and freshman guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) scored a season-high 17 points.

The game remained close for the first six minutes with both teams trading the lead back and forth and then tying at 10-10 at the 14:18 mark. Then, freshman guard Sonny Martinez (Austin) sunk a 3-pointer to initiate an 18-point run for Beaver with 6:33 to go in the first (28-10). Beaver's defense locked-in and held DuBois to only 12 points in the remaining minutes of the first half, with Butler also making 3-3 free throws and a late jumper in the last two minutes, which allowed Beaver to take a 15-point lead before halftime (40-25). Beaver shot 90.9 percent from the free-throw line, making 10-11 in the first.

In the second half, sophomore forward Andrew Brady (Alliance/Marlington) started Beaver's second-half scoring, hitting a 2-pointer from the field less than a second in (42-25). Foster played a pivotal role down the stretch, hitting two late shots from behind the arch in under two minutes, with Martinez assisting on the second shot, increasing DuBois' deficit to 19 points with under three minutes to go (72-55). At the Beaver built its largest lead of the game, 22 points, on Butler's late jumper with only 19 seconds left on the clock, sealing the deal for Beaver to defeat DuBois with a final score of 77-55.

Coach Brian Bibey credited Beaver's conference win to solid game plan execution from the men.

"Our guys really executed the game plan well, played hard and with poise down the stretch," Bibey said.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 84.6 percent from the free-throw line (11-13). Beaver outscored DuBois 16-11 in points off turnovers, 12-3 on second-chance points and 9-7 on assists.

After tonight's victory against DuBois, Beaver has won its last three games and holds a 1-0 record in the PSUAC standing.

Beaver returns to action on Nov. 30 for Friday's road game against conference rival Penn State Scranton. Game time is slated for 8 p.m.