2nd Half Rally comes up short at Marywood

Scranton, Pa. - Hazleton dropped their second game of the season on Wednesday night when the Nittany Lions traveled to NCAA III Marywood University for a non-conference contest. After trailing at halftime, the Hazleton squad clawed their way back into mix, tying the game with just over two minutes to play, but Marywood capitalized on their late possessions to top Hazleton 71-68. 

Hazleton stormed ahead to an early 8-1 advantage as third year's Shamell Ponds and Andre Campbell connected for some early offense but Hazleton would earn just three field goals over an eight minute stretch of play, allowing Marywood to climb back into the game. Fourth year players, Connor Rushing and Dante Harward helped keep the Lions ahead despite the drought. The duo struck for seven points under the ten minute mark which seemed to give the momentum back to Hazleton until a late flurry from the Pacers gave them their first substantial lead of the night.

Hazleton would trail Marywood 25-32 at the midway point and the Pacers continued to edge the Lions out of the halftime break. The home squad extended their lead to as many as 12 points and were content to trade baskets with the Nittany Lions for much of the period. As the five minute mark approached, Hazleton began to make a run. A triple by Rushing cut the lead to just three points and following a make by the Pacers, Ponds poured in a bucket from beyond the arc to bring the score to 61-59 in favor of Marywood. A lay in by Dante Harward tied the game at 61 but moments later, Marywod was back on top. With under three minutes to play, Andre Campbell hit back to back field goals to tie the game at 65 each but a 4-0 run by Marywood once again made it a two possession ball game. With 1:04 remaining, Dante Harward dropped a three-point shot to get Hazleton to within one point of the Pacers but Hazleton was unable to convert their next possession and were forced to send Marywood to the charity stripe. Trailing 71-68, Hazleton had one last shot to extend the game, but a miss at the horn sealed the Lions fate and gave Marywood the win by a three point margin. 

Hazleton made the most of their possessions on Wednesday, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and went 6-of-18 from beyond the arc but 15 turnovers and 10 triples from the Marywood squad proved to be the difference in the closely contested ball game. Harward led the Lions with 21 points and 10 rebounds with Rushing adding 18 in 27 reserve minutes. Andre Campbell went 7-for-15 on the night for 15 points but some early foul trouble limited the third year player. Shamell Ponds totaled 12 points with six boards and two steals in the loss while third year George McConkey added nine rebounds and six assists respectively. 

Hazleton will have six days off before their next scheduled contest. Leading off the Penn State University Athletic Conference schedule will be Penn State Wilkes-Barre who will come to the Dr. Thomas M. Caccese Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 19 for an 8:00 p.m. matchup with Hazleton.