Penn State Scranton Men’s Basketball Captures First Conference Victory

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a chilly Friday evening in the electric city, there was red hot action on the court, as the hometown Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad defeated conference foe Penn State Beaver 59-51 in overtime to seize their first league victory of their 2022-2023 campaign. With the win, Scranton's overall record improves to 4-2 on the season and in the all-important league play they even their record up at 1-1, bouncing back in a big way after losing their home conference opener this past Wednesday night to Penn State Hazleton 80-60.

It was barn burner neck-and-neck ball game at the end of the first half, as Scranton held a slim two point advantage, 21-19, in a low scoring defensive struggle. In the second half of play, the nail-biter continued, as Beaver outscored Scranton by two points, 31-29, to leave things all knotted up at 50-50 at the end of regulation when the final whistle blew. When the 40 minutes of regulation could not decide a winner, the contest headed into a five minute overtime, and in that extra period, Scranton would once and for all seize control of the game by dominating their opponent by the score of 9-1 to give the Lions the eight point cushion they would enjoy when the game clock turned to all zeroes.

Scranton on the night had two players score in double figures, as sophomore big man Marcus Delesline and junior guard Macio Robinson set the pace on offense. Delesline provided a powerful low post presence throughout the entire match, as he scored a game-high 20 points on 8-16 shooting from the field, to go along with his seven rebounds, and two steals, in his stellar 28 minutes on the court. Robinson tallied 12 points, leading the way in the all-important decisive overtime session by scoring four of those points, to go along with his two boards, an assist, and a steal. Notable mention also goes to sophomore guard Jaiden Wiggins, as he filled up the stat sheet with a solid well-rounded performance of eight points, seven rebounds, a team-high five assists, and three steals.

On the Penn State Beaver side of things, they also had two double digit scorers, as senior forward Izaiah Dickerson and fellow senior Devon Johnson led the way. Dickerson was stalwart down low all night long, as he recorded a double-double, scoring a team-high 20 points and 16 rebounds, to go along with his three blocks, two steals, and an assist in his gritty 42 minutes of play. Johnson also picked up a double-double, as he put up 13 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with his three assists, a block, and a steal.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his 4-2 Penn State Scranton men's basketball team will look to continue their winning ways when they play on back-to-back days, when they host another conference foe, Penn State Fayette, in a Saturday afternoon matinee, with tip-off scheduled for 1pm. Meanwhile, head coach Brian Bibey and his 0-4 Penn State Beaver squad will look to bounce back and snap their four game losing streak and capture their first conference victory of the young basketball season, when they travel on the road to take on Penn State Wilkes-Barre with the game kicking-off at 3pm.