Men’s Basketball Looks to Keep Rolling vs. Lehigh Valley

McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball Team (9-4, 4-1) looks to keep building off of their success when they battle Penn State Lehigh Valley (3-8, 2-4) on Friday at 8 p.m. The men kicked off the 2018 portion of their schedule with a big win over PSU-New Kensington 77-61 on Tuesday.

After several games where the offense came out slow, PSUGA was able to put their foot on the gas from the get go scoring 10 of the first 14 points and never giving up the lead from there. They scored 38 points in the first half and followed it up with 39 second half points. Defense was a big focus in practice for Head Coach Tyler Care’s team and they were able to come up with big stops in big situations.

It was a historic day for Senior Curtis Newby (Sharon, Pa./Sharon HS) who collected 11 rebounds in the game. Newby broke the all-time career rebounding record at PSUGA that was held by Petrie Addison since the 2015 season. In his three seasons with PSUGA, Newby has collected 706 rebounds and has been a double-double machine this season collecting eight in the teams first 13 games.

Junior Jordan Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) got back on track as well scoring 20 points on the night to lead the team. Payne had his worst game of the season against DuBois before the break, scoring just eight points in the game. The offensive leader for PSUGA is currently averaging 18 PPG and ranks him fourth in all of the Penn State University Athletic Conference. Khari Hicks (East Hills, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) continues his dominance in the assist department with a team leading seven on the day.

The win marked the fourth win in the last six games for the PSUGA Men’s Basketball Team and moved them to 4-1 in PSUAC play. The win moves them into a second-place tie in the standings with PSU-Fayette. The two teams sit behind PSUAC leading Brandywine who is 6-1 in conference play.

Lehigh Valley enters the matchup coming off of a win over PSU-Worthington Scranton to start their half of the 2018 schedule. They used a 48-point first half to ride to victory collecting their third win of the season and second in conference play. Travis Gilbert provided the spark off the bench for Lehigh Valley scoring a team-high 21 points. The win is only their second in the last five games as they haven’t been able to put together a string of success yet this season.

PSUGA has never lost to Lehigh Valley with a perfect 5-0 record since the 2011/2012 season. Last season, it was PSUGA’s offense that dominated in a 100-84 win. Newby ended up with 21 points in the game and former Lion Moe Ali provided 20 points off the bench to lead the team to victory.

Tip-off for Friday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Cedar Crest College and It will be the first part of a Men’s and Women’s Doubleheader.