Freshmen Phenom Drop 58 Total Points in 88-86 Pitt-Titusville Slant

Titusville, Pa. - Despite a stand-out effort from both freshmen guards Khari Hicks (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian) and Jashaun Fontanez (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), the Penn State Greater Allegheny men's basketball team went on to suffer a 88-86 slide over Pitt-Titusville, Wednesday night.

Hicks was the first to answer for Greater Allegheny, as the guard knocked down a three-pointer. Freshman forward Tony Patterson-Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Roxborough) contributed a layup before senior forward Petrie Addison (Fort Myers, Fla./Florida Christian) nailed a trey, giving GA the quick 8-6 advantage a little over two minutes into the contest.

Patterson-Brown and Addison knocked down a layup each as Hicks regained the 14-13 lead with a made jumper. Addison put down two from the free-throw line before freshman guard Jashaun Fontanez (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) dropped a jump shot. Hicks achieved two points in the paint as Fontanez and Patterson-Brown tallied points at the foul line. Senior guard Matt Williams (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter Shoemaker Campus) made a jumper to even the score at 25 with just seven minutes to go until halftime.

Hicks and Patterson-Brown finished layups for Greater Allegheny before Fontanez went off. The freshman zipped down the court for four points through 25 seconds of action before he hammered down a three-pointer and a jumper, ballooning Greater Allegheny to a 38-30 lead over Titusville. Hicks contributed a layup and a jumper within the final 45 seconds of first-half action, Greater Allegheny ahead of the home team, 42-34.

Fontanez slashed two foul shots to open the second-half to extend the lead to ten. Williams downed a jumper before Fontanez added four more points in the paint. Patterson-Brown added a trey before Pitt-Titusville began their come back, bringing the game to a 53-50 GA lead with just 15 minutes of regulation remaining. Fontanez added a pair of three-pointers alongside Addison's pair of layups and a free-throw to elevate Greater Allegheny over Titusville, 64-56.

Hicks put up a layup as Patterson-Brown laid down two from the free-throw line, GA now narrowly ahead of Titusville, 68-65 with eight minutes of game time left.  Through the next two minutes, the home team propeled over the blue-and-white. Fontanez made two from the free-throw line as Hicks hammered down a set of clutch three-pointers to bring the score just a one-point deficit. Hicks and Fontanez complete jumpers as Titusville continued to score on free-throws. Fontanez added a free-throw as Hicks added the final points for Greater Allegheny with a three-pointer, Titusville just barely ahead of GA, 88-86.

Hicks finished the night with 26 points deposited with seven assists, five steals and four boards. Fontanez completed a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line as the freshman dominated the floor with 32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and a steal for Greater Allegheny. Patterson-Brown and Addison matched each other with 12 points apiece toward GA. Addison earned another double-double on the night, as the forward pulled down 13 boards.

As a team, Greater Allegheny finished 68.4% (13-of-19) of their shots from the floor alongside grabbing 47 total boards over Pitt-Titusville. GA managed 27 points off turnovers, 26 points in the pant and 22 points off second-chance.

Greater Allegheny (8-17, 5-10 PSUAC) goes on the road for their final regular season match-up against Penn State Beaver on Friday night. The men are set to tip-off the Penn State University Athletic Conference battle after the women, around 8 p.m.

Follow the game with live statistics here and live video stream here.