Beaver falls in first game of the season
By: Matylda Zamudio
Pittsburgh, Pa. -- The Penn State Beaver men's basketball team lost to Chatham University, 62-77.
The Penn State Beaver men's basketball team opened the 2018-2019 season on the road against Chatham University on Friday night. The men finished 11th in the PSUAC conference last season, the team looks to start the new season off right and score a road win in their first game of the season against Chatham.
In the first half, Beaver came out aggressive, with freshman Jeremy Redwine taking an early shot in the first 20 minutes. Redwine missed, but sophomore Andrew Brady came right behind and tipped the ball in the basketball to land Beaver first on the scoreboard (2-0). Chatham responded by firing a three but missed. Chatham then attempted two jump shots but missed both. Then, Brady got the rebound and got the ball to freshman Sonny Martinez, who scored a quick three to give Beaver a 5-0 lead less than a minute in. Chatham got on the board nine seconds later with a quick jumper (5-2). Beaver got hot on offense and went on a 7-point run in the next two minutes. Beaver kept a 7-point lead over Chatham for the next three minutes, but Chatham fought back and got the game within two points at 16-14. As the game continued, the Beaver men started to build up their lead to 7 points again with more than seven minutes left on the clock. However, Beaver started to turn the ball over and allowed Chatham to go on a 9-point run and take the lead at 26-28. Beaver continued to struggle with possession and missed a few key shots to slow down Chatham men, who then extended their run to 14 points at 3:45 left in the first (26-33). But Beaver got the ball back, and freshman Keon Butler sunk a jump ball in for two points, which prompted a 6-point run by Beaver to cut Chatham's lead to 1 point with less than two minutes to go in the first half (32-33). However, Chatham scored a jumper and held Beaver from scoring at the buzzer with Beaver trailing by 3 points (32-35). Beaver shot 40% from the field and 44.44% from 3-point range in the first.
The second half, Beaver received an early foul call and sent Chatham straight to the free-throw line to get the first point on the board (32-36) and then again at the 17th minute, which Chatham made as well (32-39). Then, junior John Foster hit a jumper to score Beaver's first points in the second (34-39). Beaver got within 3 points thanks to a jumper from Brady (36-39) but then allowed a 5-point run by Chatham to bring the deficit to 8 points only five minutes into the second period (36-44). Chatham maintained an 8-9-point lead over Beaver down to the final five minutes of the game, but Beaver missed some critical shots to get the team within striking distance. Beaver tried to hang on, but couldn't shut down Chatham's offense. Beaver lost the game 62-77.
Leading the offense was Foster with 16 points. Redwine contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds. Butler had a commendable performance with 12 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds. Heading Beaver's defense was Brady, racking up 12 rebounds.
Beaver will play away on Monday, Nov. 12, where the team will face off against Kent State Tuscarawas. The game begins at 7 p.m.