GA Men's Hoops Splits at Southern State with Buzzer-Beating Three

Hillsboro, Ohio - The Penn State Greater Allegheny men's basketball team went on the road to play two games with Southern State in their Tip-Off Tournament, Friday and Saturday, as GA took the second game 95-92 with a timely three-pointer to finish with a split on the weekend.

In the first contest on Friday night, sophomore forward Carl London (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) was first on the board with two completed free-throws. Freshman guard Khari Hicks (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian) got up for a three-pointer before junior guard Chris Dixon (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) contributed five points within the first four minutes of action. 

Freshman guard Tony Patterson-Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Roxborough) added a free-throw before Dixon knocked down a three-pointer, advancing the score to 14-12. Hicks made two layups before Dixon clocked in another trey. Freshman guard Terance Wroniak (Carrick, Pa./-) put up a layup as sophomore Denzel Boyer-London (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) achieved a layup to move the score to 27-16 GA with eleven left to play until halftime.

Patterson-Brown and Dixon add two apiece before freshman guard Antonio Lucic-Jozak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) hammered down a three, GA leading SSCC 34-26. Patterson-Brown put up another four before Dixon capitalized on another three-pointer. Hicks followed with another trey before Lucic-Jozak capped the scoring drive in the first half with a layup, Greater Allegheny leading 49-45.

The second half saw a bucket from Boyer-London before Southern State went on a hot streak out of the gate. Dixon didn't let them get too far away, reigning them back in with a three-pointer, 55-54 SSCC. Hicks hit four points while Boyer-London and Lucic-Jozak cashed in for layups. 

SSCC found themselves ahead with nine minutes to go through game one. Wroniak made his presence known with four points from the paint as Boyer-London and Hicks brought GA closer, 75-74. Dixon, Lucic-Jozak, Boyer-London and London showed out the last four minutes of contest, each of them contributing treys to try and overtake Southern State. The hosting team was just too much to bare, as Greater Allegheny could not overcome Southern State 93-89.

Through game one, Dixon put up a season-high 23 points with seven rebounds. Hicks added 22 points with four assists and three steals. Boyer-London contributed a double-double, with 14 points and ten assists along with eight rebounds and a steal. Lucic-Jozak recorded 12 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

As a team, Greater Allegheny (2-2) polished off 40 points in the paint and 27 points off turnovers. The group marked 53.8% (7-of-13) from the free-throw line.

Saturday saw the second match-up between Greater Allegheny and Southern State.

Patterson-Brown was there first on the board for Greater Allegheny through the second contest, as he marked two layups. Boyer-London alongside Hicks completed a layup apiece just four minutes into the game. Patterson-Brown tallied up eight points through three minutes of action, highlighted by a three-pointer to tie the score up at 18. Lucic-Jozak made a jumper and a free-throw before London made a layup with nine minutes to play until halftime, SSCC ahead 25-23.

Southern State started to make a little head way as Boyer-London and Hicks combined efforts for eight points toward the Greater Allegheny tally. Patterson-Brown completed a jumpshot and a three-pointer to bring the game to 38-36. Hicks took the end of the first half into his own hands, as the freshman showed out with ten points, boosting Greater Allegheny up and over Southern State to head into halftime 46-45.

Dixon came out fast and notched a layup before London extended Greater Allegheny's lead with a three-pointer, 54-50. Patterson-Brown aced both free-throws attempted while Hicks, Dixon and Boyer-London rolled Greater Allegheny's lead to 68-55 just four minutes into the second half. Dixon completed a trey before Wroniak, Hicks and London put points up on the board while Southern State put a few on the board themselves.

Boyer-London marked a layup before Lucic-Jozak polished off a three-pointer himself, bringing the mark to 81-74 with seven left to play. Southern State got painstakingly close to Greater Allegheny as Dixon, Hicks and Boyer-London continued to stride on. Southern State found themselves a point ahead of GA with three minutes left to play, before each side matched the other with scoring. 

Boyer-London and London marked points from the free-throw line before Patterson-Brown drilled the winning three-pointer to give Greater Allegheny their first win on the weekend, 95-92.

As a team, Greater Allegheny (3-2) completed 72.4% (21-of-29) from the free-throw line. The men achieved 38 points from the paint alongside 23 points in the paint and 14 fastbreak points. 

Hicks put up a season-high 25 points, going 50% from both the floor (10-of-20) and free-throw line (4-of-8).  He also posted three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Patterson-Brown completed 100% of his free-throws taken (5-of-5) and three-pointers taken (3-of-3) alongside his 8-of-13 shots completed from the floor. 

Boyer-London added aced 50% (6-of-12) from the floor and 85.7% (6-of-7) from the foul line. He dropped 18 points with 13 assists along with his seven rebounds and three steals. London added twelve points as he went 2-for-2 from outside the arc and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. 

Greater Allegheny comes back to Pittsburgh an looks onward to Monday, as the men travel to Edinboro University for a 7 p.m. tip-off.