Beaver falls in final regular season Fayette road bout

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. – In the final, nail-bitter match of the regular season, the Penn State Beaver men's basketball team fell by 1 point to Penn State Fayette during Friday's road game.

Junior guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) landed on top of the scoring list for Beaver tonight with a game-high 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, followed by senior guard John Foster (Austin/Del Valle), who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, six steals and one assist.

1st half:  The teams were neck-to-neck until sophomore forward/center Jeremy Redwine (Merced) drilled a 3-pointer, which prompted the Lions to make an 8-2 run and pull ahead 15-9 at 12:29. The Lions stayed ahead by 5-2 points over the next few minutes, but Fayette tied the game on a layup at 7:26 (17-17).  However, Beaver took the lead once again after freshman guard Alexander Avery (Stafford/Brooke Point) and Butler combined by back-to-back treys and layup by Foster to build the score to an 8-point advantage for the Lions (25-17). The at the 5-minute mark, Foster scored another layup to put the Lions up by 9 (30-21), however, it was Fayette that pickup up momentum in the final minutes of the first, as the home-team outscored Beaver 11-0 to which the Lions only led 30-28 at halftime. *Foster contributed 14 points total in the first, shooting 6-10 from the field and 2-5 from 3-point range.

2nd half: After the break, the Lions took some time to get going, as Fayette made a 7-0 run to open the second, putting Beaver down 37-30 at 16:51. But Butler and Avery teamed up again for back-to-back shots from behind the arch to make it a one-possession game at 39-36 advantage Fayette. But as the period proceeded, Fayette battled back to a 9-point lead (55-46) at the 8:54 mark, but the Lions answered back with 9 straight points, 7 of which came from Butler to get within 1 point of Fayette (56-55). But the Fayette men reciprocated Beaver's run with 9 points of their own at 3:46 (64-55). But Beaver fought until the end, with Redwine and junior guard Sonny Martinez (Austin) knocking down late treys and a clutch layup from Butler to put the game within 3 points with 32 seconds of play left (68-65). However,  while Martinez hit a final layup, the Lions were 1 point short and fell 68-67 in the game. *Keon totaled 17 points in the half, shooting 7-12 from the field, 2-5 from 3-point range and 1-1 from the charity stripe.

Inside the Box: Beaver shot 44.1 percent from the field, connecting on 26-59 shots, 42.9 percent from 3-point range on 12-28 shots and 60 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 3-5 from the charity stripe.

The Lions finishes the regular season with a 13-12 overall and in fourth place in the west (10-9) in the PSUAC standings. The men will be back for their first playoff match this Tuesday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is TBA.