Lions score win against Williamson Trade in PSU Beaver Tournament

By: Matylda Zamudio

Monaca, Pa. – Junior guard John Foster's season-high 35 points led the Penn State Beaver men's basketball team to a victory over Williamson College of Trade in Saturday's PSU Beaver Tournament.

Foster (Austin/Del Valle) also finished with eight assists and two steals followed by sophomore forward Andrew Brady (Alliance/Marlington), who earned himself a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

1st half: Foster immediately facilitated Beaver's offense, hitting two back-to-back shots from behind the arch, which was both assisted by freshman guard Sonny Martinez (Austin). Foster didn't stop there. At the 17:45, freshman guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) fed Foster the ball, which he nailed from downtown once again to give Beaver a 9-0 lead over Williamson Trade. The Lions fluid passing helped them continued their early run with Foster stealing the ball back on the next possession and getting it to freshman forward/center Jeremy Redwine (Merced), who found Brady for an easy bucket (11-0). However, three turnovers by Beaver helped Williamson Trade tie the game at 18-18. The comeback was short-lived as Williamson Trade ran into foul trouble including a technical with six minutes to go before halftime, which sent Foster to the line for two free-throw attempts, which helped Beaver edge out a 9-point lead (27-18). Beaver led 34-25 at the half.

2nd half: The second half remained close for a little over five minutes with Beaver holding a two-score lead over Williamson Trade until freshman guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) stole the ball back and found Foster in the corner for another 3-pointer to help Beaver pull away by double digits (40-29). Beaver controlled the tempo for the remaining minutes of the game by shooting efficiently in the post to build up the lead to 13 points with 1:09 to go. Then, at the 18-second mark, Beaver built its largest lead of 26 points on another 3-point jumper from Foster.   

Beaver outscored Williamson Trade 31-14 in the second, winning by a final score of 65-39.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 77.8 percent on 14-18 from the charity stripe shot 11.7 percent higher than Williamson Trade from the field. Beaver also shot 39.5 higher from 3-point range. Beaver outrebounded Williamson Trade 32-18 and earned 13 more assists for the day.

With today's win against Williamson Trade, Beaver improves to a 7-3 regular season record and still holds down first place in the PSUAC-West.

Beaver will return to action at home against Kent St.-Tuscarawas on Friday, Jan. 4. The game begins at 7 p.m.