McKeesport, PA. – On a record setting night, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (10-4, 7-3) picked up their sixth straight win defeating Penn State Scranton (2-12, 0-10) 117-83. The story of the night was Jordon Payne (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS) scoring a school record 45 points and hitting 14 three-pointers in leading his team to victory.
Early on, it was a back and forth struggle as Scranton gave PSUGA all they could handle fighting to an 18-18 score with 12:33 left on the first half clock. That is when PSUGA started finding their groove going on a 7-0 run to up their lead to 25-18 hitting three three-pointers during the run. That is when Payne started to get hot hitting five threes over the last 12 minutes of the half.
He would end the first half with eight three’s under his belt to go along with 24 points and PSUGA headed into the locker room with a comfortable 61-43 lead. While the PSUGA single game three-point record was in sight, Payne had his eyes on a bigger prize. The record for three’s in a game at all levels of NCAA was 15 set by North Greenville State’s Jordan Lyons back in 2018 and Payne saw an opportunity to break that record.
His offense helped him out again coming out of the locker room going on an 11-2 run where Payne hit two more threes and upped his total to 10 on the night and PSUGA led 74-50 with 14:16 left on the clock. The PSUGA lead would swell to 82-59 and two more threes from Payne put him at 12.
Payne hit his 14th three-pointer with three minutes to go and needed just one more to tie the record, but Scranton focused all their attention on the senior over the final three minutes and Payne exited with 14 three-pointers and the school record of 45 points in the game. PSUGA would come out on top 117-83 and won their sixth straight contest.
The 45 point effort for Payne broke the old record set by former Lion Petrie Addison who scored 42 points against Kent State Tuscarawas in 2015. Payne was one of three double-digit scorers with Makis Rivera (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) and Koran Flemming (Wilkinsburg, PA./Westinghouse HS) finishing with 13 points apiece.
The win moves PSUGA to 7-3 in conference play and puts them alone in first place in the Penn State University Athletic Conference West Division just a half game ahead of Beaver and Mont Alto. As the men eye their fourth straight playoff berth, they keep getting better and better as the season goes on.
PSUGA has a week off now before returning to action on Friday January 25th when they go on the road to face PSU-York at 7 p.m.