Lions Late Rally Falls Short Against Fayette

Hazleton, PA – Jacob Solano (Bethlehem, PA) lead all scorers for Hazleton (6-10, 4-7 PSUAC) with 25 points and 7 rebounds, but the Lions fell in a back and forth battle against Penn State Fayette(16-3, 12-0 PSUAC) Saturday afternoon in a Penn State University Athletic Conference matchup.

Accompanying Solano's strong outing with double-figures for PSU Hazleton were Jordan Singletary and Tyreek Fairfax. Singletary (Houston, TX) finished the game with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots, while Fairfax (Philadelphia, PA) chipped in 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

Penn State Fayette grabbed early control of the game with accurate outside shooting from seniors Matt McKenna and Dierre Jenkins. Working the glass, Hazleton bounced back to take a 36-34 lead at the midway-point. Led by a 17 point outburst by junior guard Luke Williams, Fayette jumped out to a lead as large as 14 in the second half with just 5 minutes remaining. Solano and company rallied late, cutting the deficit to 3 points with 40 seconds to play, but clutch shooting from charity stripe, sealed the victory for Fayette 72-69.

Penn State Fayette was led by senior forward Matt McKenna with 23 points and a game high 8 rebounds. Luke Williams finished the contest with 20 points and a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line.

Hazleton looks to bounce back and enter the win column tomorrow in a 1pm conference matchup against Penn State New Kensington.