Penn State Scranton Lions Men’s Basketball Roars to a Tournament Championship

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Saturday night, the hometown Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad knocked off the Bucks County Community College Centurions by a score of 88-81 to win their second straight game and capture the PSU Scranton Men's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament championship. With this dominant victory, the Lions from Scranton see their overall season record improve to 3-1 and are now an impressive 3-0, undefeated at home to start off their 2022-2023 basketball campaign.

After a nail-biter first half of play that saw Scranton hold onto a slim one point advantage, 34-33, heading into the break in the action, the Lions came roaring back in full force in the game's final 20 minutes, as they outscored the Centurions by six points, 54-48, to break the contest open in the second half and give their squad the seven point cushion they would enjoy when the game's final whistle blew. Overall, Scranton's offense had a solid advantage in field goal made percentage over their opponent, 51.5 percent to 42.3 percent, and a sizeable advantage shooting from beyond the arc, 54.5 percent to just 27.3 percent.

Scranton was led on offense by their three double figure scorers on the day, as junior guard Macio Robinson, fellow junior Angelo Gyamfi, and sophomore big man Marcus Delesline set the pace for the Lions. Robinson scored a team-high 29 points on an impressive 11-15 shooting from the field, making five out of his eight attempts from three point land, to go along with his three assists, and two steals in his stalwart 30 minutes of work. Along with Robinson's 26 point effort the day before in their opening round 80-62 win over Five Towns College, he earned tournament MVP honors after combining to score a robust 55 points in his stellar two games in the competition. Gyamfi had a sensational effort as well on the night, as he recorded a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, to go along with his two assists, a block, and shooting a highly efficient 9-13 from the field. Last but certainly not least, Delesline also put up a double-double in the contest, as he scored 14 points and tallied 12 boards in his gritty 32 minutes on the court where he supplied a rock steady low post presence throughout the ball game. Overall, Robinson, Gyamfi, and Delesline combined to score an awe-inspiring 64 out of their team's 88 total points for the entire game.

Meanwhile, Bucks County Community College was also led on offense by three double-digit scorers, as freshman Yasir Rowell, sophomore Colin Martin, and fellow sophomore Joseph Brusha set the pace for their squad. Rowell came off the bench to give his ball club a much needed spark, as he scored a game-high 32 points, to go along with his four assists, three rebounds, and three steals in his quality 36 minutes on the floor. Martin had his team's only double-double in the contest, as he scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, to go along with his three assists, three steals, and one block on the night. Last but not least, Brusha put up 15 points, five boards, two assists, two steals, and a block.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his 3-1 Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad will look to continue their winning ways this upcoming Tuesday, November 15^th, when they host rival Penn State Hazleton to kick-off their all-important conference schedule with tip-off at 8pm. Meanwhile, head coach Farrad McLaughlin and his 2-2 Bucks County Community College ball club, who won their opening game of this tournament in a close 83-80 decision over Central Penn the day before, will to bounce back from this defeat in their next contest, when they travel on the road this Thursday, November 17^th, to play at Williamson College at 7pm.