Bench Scores 25 as PSUGA Men win Second Straight
The PSUGA Men's Basketball team used 25 points from the bench and a 14-point second half to secure back-to-back victories defeating PSU-Fayette 80-73.
Lemont Furnace, Pa. – The PSUGA Men’s Basketball team (11-5, 6-2) got contributions all-around on Tuesday night when they defeated Penn State Fayette (7-8, 4-4) 80-73. The bench contributed 25 of the teams 80 points to help PSUGA secure their sixth conference win of the season.
After allowing Fayette to jump out to an early 6-0 lead, PSUGA would come back to score 11 of the next 13 points to take a lead. After playing lackluster defense over the weekend, PSUGA committed to it early and it allowed them to jump out to the lead. They continued to be able to put points on the board in the first half and went into the locker room leading 40-31.
Jordon Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) put up 12 points in the first half and continues to lead the PSUGA offense. Kenny Rouse (Duquesne, Pa./West Mifflin) and Makis Rivera (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) contributed a combined 11 points off the bench and Juwan Ledbetter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Alderdice) contributed five more to lead the charge.
The second half belonged to Curtis Newby (Sharon, Pa./Sharon HS) as he almost single-handedly helped seal the deal. After being limited to just two points in the entire first half he went off putting up 14 second half points leading his team to a 40-point second half. Fayette would end up outscoring PSUGA in the quarter by putting up 42 points of their own, but the damage had been done in the first half and PSUGA held on to win 80-73.
Newby finished the day with 16 points good for second on the team behind Payne’s 23 point effort. Rivera and Rouse finished with 10 points each and Ledbetter scored a season high five points off the bench. Everyone on the PSUGA roster got a chance to play at the end of the game giving the starters some much needed rest.
With the win, PSUGA is able to keep pace with the rest of the Penn State University Athletic Conference standings. PSUGA currently sits in fourth place behind PSU-Brandywine, PSU-York, and PSU-Wilkes Barre. Each team has two conference loses and with games against both York and Wilkes-Barre remaining on the schedule, there is still plenty of time for the defending PSUAC Champions to reclaim that top spot.
They will get a chance to do just that this weekend when they play two big PSUAC games against Penn State Mont Alto on Friday and Penn State York on Saturday. Tip-off for Friday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be the second half of a Men’s and Women’s basketball doubleheader.