Arlington, VA - Penn State Harrisburg Men's Basketball took to the road Wednesday to make a statement about the type of team they want to be. Getting off to a quick start, the Lions executed near perfectly on all ends of the court and only continued to build as the game went on. The Lions made that statement on the road Wednesday winning 74-57.
Penn State Harrisburg 74 vs. Marymount 57
Penn State Harrisburg Starters: Keenan Wise, Trent Thomas, Brandon Coleman, Gbolahan Alliyu, Kahlil Williams
Marymount Starters: Kamara, Rogers, Rucker, Etienne, Pittman
Records:
Penn State Harrisburg: (6-10, 2-7)
Marymount: (5-11, 4-5)
Inside The Stats:
Field Goals: Penn State Harrisburg (27-53) vs. Marymount (20-52)
Assists: Harrisburg (19) vs. Marymount (11)
Turnovers: Harrisburg (19) vs. Marymount (19)
Rebounds: Harrisburg (34) vs. Marymount (30)
How it Happened: Penn State Harrisburg has struggled early on in the season to get quick starts, but that wasn't the case Wednesday. The Lions came out of the gate with a clear chip on their shoulder. The Lions did trail momentarily, but led for 19:56 of the first half.
Eight minutes into the game the blue and white had earned a 6 point lead, 18-12 and never looked back. The team shot 48 % from the field and went a perfect 8-8 from the Free Throw line. Gbolahan Alliyu, whom entered the game 5th in the country in blocks added 3 more to his totals by the time the teams hit the locker room up 40-25.
The Lions came back from the locker room with the same intensity as when the half ended. Kahlil Williams emerged as a leader putting up 15 points through the first 30 minutes. By the 10 minute mark, the Lions had increased their shooting percentage and took advantage of the turnovers given to them, scoring 20 off turnovers.
Marymount managed to put together a stretch of strong possessions, shorly passed the halfway mark, cutting the lead to 10. Harrisburg responded to the pressure and didn't lose composure continuing the play that got them the lead. Tariq Bennett came off the bench and hit two big threes, and with 3:30 remaining, the Lions held a 68-48 lead.
The Lions would not allow the Saints to make a late run and ended the game with a 17 point margin 74-57. Harrisburg played a near complete game, leading every statistical category including shooting over 50%.
Impact Performance:
Kahlil Williams – 20 Points
Gbloahan Alliyu - 16 Rebounds, 4 Blocks
Coach Thoughts: "I really liked how our kids hung together in practice the past 2 days heading into tonight game here at Marymount. I thought we came out as the aggressors setting the tone for the game. Our starters along with the kids off the bench were able to sustain their defensive energy from start to finish. Our guys were really looking for each other on the offensive end. It became contagious. We'll continue to attack our schedule from here on out 1-game at a time". - Head Coach Don Friday
What's Next: The Lions will carry their momentum into the second half of conference play returning home to face Salisbury University at 3pm in the Capital Union Building.