McKeesport, Pa. - Despite fierce back-and-forth play through forty minutes of regulation, the Penn State Greater Allegheny men's basketball team went on to suffer a non-conference setback against Pitt-Titusville Saturday afternoon, 85-80.
Titusville jumped out to a quick lead over Greater Allegheny before senior forward Nick Dizon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) cashed in for two free-throws. Senior forward Aaron Byrd (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise) and junior guard Petrie Addison (Fort Myers, Fla./Florida Christian) added a jumper and lay-up, respectively, to close the gap to three. Titusville dropped a few points before freshman guard Eric Moody (Philadelphia, Pa./New Media Technology Charter) hammered down a clutch three-pointer. Freshman guard Denzel London (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) cashed in a lay-up before Dizon downed a jumper and an additional and one foul shot. Points achieved from both sides of the court made for an intense first half. Every time GA would get close to overtaking the lead, Titusville achieved points to make the game that much more interesting. Addison, Dizon and D. London comprised of the remainder of the scoring drive through the first twenty minutes, going into halftime down 39-35.
As Greater Allegheny's defense held Titusville to zero points scored through the first three minutes of second half play, their offense made some headway for them to take the lead. Addison, Byrd, D. London and Moody all dropped consecutive tallies to take the lead, 44-39. Addison and Byrd add points to continue the swell but Titusville just continued to fight back. Back-to-back marks boosted Titusville over Greater Allegheny with 12 minutes left to play. Greater Allegheny would not back down. It seemed like everytime one team scored, the other answered right back. Greater Allegheny kept within eye-sight of their opponent, but their drive was just too much. Consecutive lay-ups from Addison and Byrd boosted GA up and over Titusville by three with just five minutes to play. The following minutes were nail-biters, as both sides were eager for the win. To begin the last minute of play, both sides were tied at 80. Titusville held GA to zero as they were able to achieve five points. Despite their valiant efforts, regulation time expired for Greater Allegheny, as they found themselves on the short end of the stick, 85-80.
Three GA student-athletes registered double-doubles to lift their efforts through regulation. Addison dropped a team-high 24 points along with 16 boards and four assists. He completed 57.1% (8-of-14) of his free-throws taken as well as 34.8% (8-of-23) of shots taken from the floor. Dizon cashed in for 19 points with eleven rebounds. Nick impressively netted 63.6% (7-of-11) of his shots from the floor and 83.3% (5-of-6) of his free-throws attempted. D. London came off of the bench and dumped 16 points, six assists and five boards. The freshman achieved 33.3% (6-of-18) shots taken from the floor and 60% (3-of-5) of free-throws attempted. Byrd also lent a hand to his squad as he dropped 12 points and eleven rebounds to boost GA's efforts.
As a whole, Greater Allegheny out-rebounded Pitt-Titusville 56 to 43 to try and propel over their opponent. They converted 16 Titusville turnovers into 14 GA tallies on the board. Greater Allegheny was able to manage 42 points in the paint, swelling their chances in the attempt to overthrow Titusville. GA banked 64% (16-for-25) of their shots from the free-throw line alongside notching 38.3% (31-of-81) of their shots from the floor.
The men look to try and bounce back on Wednesday as they travel with the women to Penn State Fayette. The Penn State University Athletic Conference match-up is set for a 8:00 p.m. tip-off. There is live-streaming of the statistics available on the web. Click here to stay-tuned!
