It was the intensity and defense of the Penn State Schuylkill’s men’s basketball team that allowed it to build a double-digit lead early in the second half.
Penn State Hazleton’s defense, however, ended up being the difference in the game.
Jacob Solano scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as Hazleton battled back from a 14-point deficit to down Schuylkill 75-67 in a Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference men’s contest Thursday at Martz Hall.
Jordan Singletary added 16 points for Hazleton (3-2, 1-0 PSUAC), while Royce Brathwaite added 14, with 11 coming in the second half.
The Hazleton women made it a sweep as Alexis Daly had 19 points and Jacqlyn Harrison 17 in a 67-46 win over Penn State Schuylkill.
Beneiko Harris led the Schuylkill men (0-5, 0-2) with 21 points, while Blue Mountain graduate Will Bornstein added 20.
Schuylkill led 52-38 with 13:05 left in the game, but Hazleton finished the game on a 37-15 run.
Defense led the way.
“The first 30 minutes, we weren’t playing the kind of defense we were playing during our non-conference schedule,” Hazleton coach
Jeff Rush said. “In the last 12 minutes, we just picked it up a notch. We do play some full-court man and when we did get a basket, we got into a full-court man and that seemed to start to unravel Schuylkill.”
Hazleton forced nine Schuylkill turnovers over the final 13 minutes and 17 in the second half. Hazleton slowly chipped away and got its first lead at 61-60 with 6 minutes left in the game on a transition layup by Solano.
There were two lead changes and two ties before Brathwaite gave Hazleton the lead for good, hitting two three throws with 2:17 left in the game.
Free-throw shooting also keyed the second-half comeback. Hazleton was a perfect 14-for-14 from the line over the final eight minutes.
Hazleton built a 13-2 advantage early in the game, but Schuylkill got back in it. Hazleton led 34-33 with 1:22 left in the first half, but Schuylkill finished the half a 7-0 run.
Blue Mountain graduate Nate Yost buried a 3-pointer from the wing, Bornstein scored on a coast-to-coast layup and Genaro Epifanio hit a runner in the lane with two seconds left to make 40-34.
Schuylkill built its biggest lead of the game at 52-38 on a 3-pointer from the wing by Bilal Butler before Hazleton began its comeback.
Madison Blasko led the Schuylkill women (2-1, 1-1) with 19 points, including a 5-for-8 showing from 3-point range. Her final 3-pointer of the night with 4:29 to go got Schuylkill’s deficit to 51-46.
However, Hazleton, which led for double digits for most of the game, finished on a 16-0 run to pull away for the win.
“I am not sure we ever did put it away,” Hazleton coach Cy Fulton said. “I thought we were tired. We have four games this week and it basically came down to defense. Our guards picked it up and got some turnovers in the perimeter and we pushed the ball up the floor. I think that was the difference in the ball game.”
Schuylkill turned the ball over nine times over the final four minutes.
“We lost some people defensively,” Schuylkill coach Darle Cresswell said. “We struggled with that all night. They were cutting and then we weren’t finding them. They got open, a couple of three-point plays, they hit their free throws and it got up to 13 real fast.”
Schuylkill was 9-for-21 from 3-point land Thursday, but finished the night 15-for-55 (27 percent) from the floor and 7-for-20 (35 percent) from the foul line.
Thursday’s doubleheader marked a return of college basketball to Martz Hall, and was a warm-up for Tuesday’s Philadelphia University vs. Kutztown men’s contest. For the most part, everything went smoothly. The only issue came just before the start of the men’s game when the power was lost to all the scoreboards. It was quickly restored.
“We got all the kinks ironed out,” Pottsville athletic director Eric Rismiller said. “We are ready for Tuesday.”
Game Summaries
WOMEN
PENN STATE HAZLETON (67) — Siva-Harrison 6 3-4 17, Guevara 5 3-8 13, Daly 9 1-2 19, Cannon 4 0-0 8, Soltys 1 0-0 2, Willoughty 2 1-2 5, Ciavaralla 1 0-0 3, Torries 0 0-0 0, Vincent 0-0 0, Dodd 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 8-16 67.
PENN STATE SCHUYLKILL (46) — Moyer 0 1-4 1, Celani 0 2-2 2, Grasso 1 1-2 4, Druby 4 0-2 11, Dolce 2 3-10 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Balsko 7 0-0 19, Bowen 1 0-0 2, Lomax 1 0-0 0, Cook 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-20 46.
Hazleton (5-1, 1-0) 28 39 — 67 Schuylkill (2-1, 1-1) 20 26 — 46
3-point FGs: Siva-Harrison 2, Ciavaralla, Grasso, Druby, Blasko 5
MEN
PENN STATE HAZLETON (76) — Woodring 1 0-1 2, Fairbax 2 1-2 7, Hobbs 2 0-0 6, Vines 4 0-0 8, Manbeck 0 4-6 4, Brathwaite 4 4-4 14, Williams 1 0-0 2, Solano 6 4-5 16, Abreu 0 0-0 0, Singletary 7 2-6 16. Totals 27 15-25 75.
PENN STATE SCHUYLKILL (67) — Tinsley 0 1-4 1, Yost 3 0-0 7, Bornstein 7 6-9 20, Okore 1 0-0 2, Harris 8 5-6 21, Bracey 1 2-2 4, Epifanio 3 0-0 7, Butler 2 0-0 5, Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 14-21 67.
Hazleton (3-2, 1-0) 34 41 — 75 Schuylkill (0-5, 0-2) 40 27 — 67
3-point FGs: Fairbax 2, Hobbs 2, Brathwaite 2, Yost, Epifanio, Butler