Lions fall short in close contest against Greater Allegheny

By: Matylda Zamudio

MONACA, Pa.–– The game went down to the wire, however, it was the Penn State Beaver men's basketball team that fell to PSUAC rival Penn State Greater Allegheny Friday evening, 70-65. 

Senior guard John Foster (Austin/Del Valle) earned a double-double and lead the team in scoring, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, and two assists, followed by junior guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School), who contributed 17 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block tonight.

Sophomore forward/center Jeremy Redwine (Merced) rounded out the double-digit scoring for Beaver tonight with 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and one assist.

1st half: Junior guard Sonny Martinez (Austin) got Beaver on the board with a jumper from behind the arc at 18:49 (3-2). At 14:55, Greater Allegheny began pulling away from Beaver with 8 unanswered points to take a 9-point lead (14-5). But Redwine answered back from back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 3 (14-11). But the Greater Allegheny men started putting some distance between them and Beaver with an 11-2 run to put the Lions down by 12 at 25-13. But a 4-point play by Foster then cut Greater Allegheny's lead to single digits after the opponents fouled him as he drilled a shot from downtown (25-17). Down the stretch, Foster scored a jumper to cut the game to 5 points--Greater Allegheny's advantage—as Beaver went on to trail by 6 at halftime (42-36).

2nd half: After the break, Beaver got things rolling at 15:53, as Butler got the game within 5 on a 3-pointer and then again at 14:08 with a layup (50-45). But the Greater Allegheny men fought back again, and the shooters got hot and scored 12 unanswered points to put the Lions down by 12 (62-50). However, momentum started to swing the Lions' way as Butler drilled a 3-pointer, followed by a layup from Redwine cut Greater Allegheny's lead to 7 points (62-55). The game got intense in the final minute, as Foster scored two free-throws to make it a two-possession game at 68-63. Then, with only 15 seconds to go, Butler hit a clutch layup to get the Lions within striking distance (68-65). However, the Lions' chance of winning faded after a late foul was called against them,  which allowed Greater Allegheny toe score two free-throws and takedown Beaver, 70-65.

Inside the Box: Beaver shot 35.1 percent from the field, hitting 26-74 shots, 18.9 percent from 3-point range on 7-37 shots and 100 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 6-6 from the charity stripe.

The Lions fall to 5-5 overall and 4-4 in the PSUAC standings. Beaver will be back at home next Friday, Dec. 20, where they will face off against Bryant & Stratton College- Rochester in the Penn State Beaver Holiday Tournament. The game is slated for 7 p.m.