MIDDLETOWN, Pa- Penn State Harrisburg welcomed Penn College to the Capital Union Building on Tuesday night, Jan. 10. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the blue and white played terrible host, jumping out to huge lead over the visitors and never looking back en route to a 93-49 victory. Steve Jones (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg) led the way for the Lions with 27 points and a number of underclassmen took advantage of some valuable playing time.
Jones scored the home team's first 13 points and finished the game 13-20 from the field. Most impressively, he recorded a game-high seven steals.
The Lions led 17-4 at the first half's 13:52 mark. Ten minutes later, that advantage ballooned to 34-10 following a Thristan Lundy (Philadelphia, PA/Samuel Fels) free throw. From there, Head Coach Mike Gaffey's squad ended the half with an 11-6 run, capped off by two free throws from freshman forward Joey Farthing (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield).
By halftime, the Lions had an incredibly comfortable advantage to the tune of 45-16. Penn State Harrisburg's stellar press defense and numerous transition buckets made for a very long 20 minutes for the Wildcats.
Penn State Harrisburg's floor general Jordan Gatchell (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) added 11 points and shot an efficient 4-5 from the field while adding six rebounds and five assists. Senior captain Kenton Alston (Harrisburg, PA/Steel-High) was strong defensively and racked up a game-best five blocks to go along with his team-high six assists. Alberto De Los Santos (Enola, PA/East Pennsboro) chipped in with ten points.
Freshman guard Amani Glenn (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) hit a layup 2:10 into the second half to push the score to 51-21. The Lions' lead never again fell below 30 points.
Freshman forward Ethan Strayer (East Petersburg, PA/Hempfield) showcased his range by racking up 13 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc, and Lundy had his best game since joining the squad two weeks ago. The sophomore forward sophomore netted eight points, grabbed two boards and nabbed two steals.
Sophomore guard Julius Brown (McComb, MS/McComb) and freshmen forwards Kevin Icker (Scranton, PA/Scranton Prep) and Brandon Willett (Frederick, MD/Tuscarora) scored five points apiece while Brown led the Lions in rebounding with seven.
The non-conference win was Penn State Harrisburg's sixth of the 2011-2012 season. Coming off of their third North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory of the year on Saturday, Jan. 7, the Lions showed no signs of letting up against the Wildcats.
The Lions will look to stay undefeated in NEAC play and settle the score with Wells when they host the Express in a conference championship rematch on Saturday, Jan. 14.