Lions go down to the wire at Penn State New Kensington, fall 61-59

New Kensington, Pa. - Sophomore Jordan Singletary (Houston Tx.) turned in his eighth double-double of the season in a tightly contested Penn State University Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday at Penn State New Kensington (4-9, 1-5 PSUAC). Despite the forward's highest scoring output of the season, New Kensington edged the Lions in regulation by a score of 61-59.

Hazleton (4-10, 2-5 PSUAC) was beaten handily on the glass, giving up 16 second chance points to the home team New Kensington, but returned the favor in the turnover battle swiping 12 steals to even out the game and contest the outcome to the final horn.

1st Half

Following four early lead changes in the opening 10 minutes of play, New Kensington opened up a lead as large as 12 before a triple from freshman Nick Nowack (Philadelphia, Pa.) stopped the 17-4 run. Nowak's jumper gave the Lions life, and Hazleton took advantage of the charity stripe to claw back into the game. The Lions went six for six from the line, capped by sophomore Anthony Kaiser's bucket from beyond the arc to complete a 13-4 Hazleton run to end the half with Hazleton trailing by three, 37-34.

2nd Half

Points came at a premium for both teams in the second half as New Kensington and Hazleton struggled at 25 percent or below from the field in the final period. A 7-2 run with 10 minutes remaining gave New Kensington its largest lead of the second half, a 54-46 advantage over the Lions.

Hazleton would hold New Kensington to just six points over the final six minutes of play, taking the home team down to the wire. Singletary chipped away at the New Kensington lead, scoring ten points over the final six minutes of action. With 30 seconds remaining, the forward drained a jumper and completed the three-point play to cut the lead to one. A last gasp effort from freshman Christopher Adames fell short and the Lions hopes were dashed, dropping their fifth straight PSUAC contest.

Top Performers

Antonio Hill led the home team with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds on the afternoon before fouling out of the game.

Jordan Williams notched 14 points including three triples and teammates Tim Jones and Toret Chambers both scored nine with double-digit rebounding outputs.

Singletary's late flurry gave the forward a season high 22 points to go along with a game high 16 rebounds. 

Sophomore Royce Brathwaite (Pocono Summit, Pa.) was the only other Nittany Lion to reach double figures, tallying 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in the loss.

Next Up

The Nittany Lions return home from their 0-2 road trip against the PSUAC West to face Penn State Schuylkill for the second time this season. Hazleton topped their rival in the previous matchup at Martz Hall by a score of 81-63. Tip off at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20 at the Dr. Thomas M. Caccese Gymnasium.