McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (6-4, 3-3) has gained momentum over their last two games as they fight their way back into the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoff race. They look to keep their momentum going when they take on Penn State Fayette (3-9, 3-3) on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
After battling back and forth early on against PSU-Beaver on Monday, PSUGA would open up the scoring going on a 10-0 run to open the score to 24-14. Beaver battled back before halftime and PSUGA would go into the locker room leading 31-27. It was the same story in the second half as PSUGA jumped out to an early lead before Beaver once again fought back an tied things at 65-65 at the end of regulation.
It wouldn’t take long for PSUGA to regain the lead in the overtime period as they went on an 8-0 run just one minute in and it was enough to hold off PSU-Beaver and get PSUGA back to .500 in conference play with an 81-76 win. Senior Antonio Hill (West Mifflin, PA./West Mifflin HS) had his best game of the season scoring 24 points and four rebounds helping his team to the win while senior Jordon Payne (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS) put up 19 points while being doubled for most of the game.
With the win, PSUGA now moves to 3-3 in PSUAC play and gets right back into the mix for a possible PSUAC playoff spot. They currently sit in a fourth place tie with their Wednesday opponent PSU-Fayette for the fourth and final playoff spot and with still 15 conference games left to go, there is still plenty of time for PSUGA to make up for their early season struggles.
Fayette has seen their fare share of struggles as well having faced a bunch of division II talent early in the season. They kicked off 2019 on the right foot, however, picking up a 115-85 win over Penn State New Kensington. Fayette was able to score 52 points in the first half and then built on that scoring 63 in the second half to complete the day. The roaring lions had three players finish with 20 or more points led by Marvin Sidon’s 26-point effort.
In the all-time matchup, Fayette holds a slight advantage over PSUGA with a record of 9-6 over 15 previous matchups. Last season, it would be PSUGA that got the better of Fayette picking up two wins including a decisive 80-73 victory that gave PSUGA the #1 seed in the PSUAC playoffs last season. Kenny Rouse (Duquesne, PA./West Mifflin HS) had a big night that night with 26 points leading his team to victory.
Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. inside the Wunderly Gym and you can watch all the action at bit.ly/PSUGAYT.
