Nittany Lions cruise to seasons' first win

Nittany Lions cruise to seasons' first win

Team Stats

November 6, 2018

Hazleton, Pa. - Playing the second end of back to back games, the Nittany Lions impressive play prevailed on Tuesday night as Hazleton played host to Luzerne County Community College. Twelve Nittany Lions found the scoring column as Hazleton shot over 50 percent from the field to top the Trailblazers in convincing fashion by the score of 98-59.

In a total team effort, Hazleton saw four players reach double figures, including junior Andy Kwaitkowski (Gaithersbug, MD) who knocked in 8-of-13 shots for a team high 19 points. Sophomore Shay Nelson (Blakeslee, Pa.) added 17 points in the win while sophomore Brandon Mohammed (Albrightsville, Pa.) and sophomore Aaron Kellmer (Hazleton, Pa.) also chipped in double figure efforts with 14 and 11 points respectively. 

Kwaitkowski scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half, sparking Hazleton's largest first half lead of 17 points. Luzerne's Joshua Ariza came off the Trailblazer bench, scoring 13 points of his own and shrinking the Lions' lead to nine midway through the half but that's as close as Tuesday's game would get. Hazleton went on a 10-0 run spurred on by long range baskets from Kellmer and senior Nick Nowak (Philadelphia, Pa.) to give the Lions some breathing room. 

Hazleton led 54-37 at the break and used a 22-2 run in the first six minutes of the final period to blow the game open. Luzerne was held to just 24 percent shooting in the last 20 minutes of play leading to the lopsided victory for Hazleton.

Next up: Hazleton is back in action Thursday night when they welcome King's College to the Dr. Thomas M. Cacesse Gymnasium for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.