Lions drop to 1-1 with loss to Greater Allegheny

Hazleton, Pa. - The Nittany Lions fell to 1-1 in Penn State University Athletic Conference play with Friday night's defeat at the hands of Penn State Greater Allegheny. Hazleton led 36-35 at the midway point, but the outside shooting of Greater Allegheny eventually wore down the Nittany Lion defense. Allegheny drained 9-of-19 three point attempts, surging for 50 second half points to nab an 85-70 win over Hazleton.

Sophomore Brandon Mohammed (Albrightsville, Pa.) tied a season high with 23 points to top all Hazleton scorers in Friday's defeat. Senior Nick Nowak (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior Andy Kwaitkowski (Gaithersburg, Md.) offered up double figure scoring efforts with 13 and 11 points respectively while sophomore Shay Nelson (Blakeslee, Pa.) totaled seven points with a team high eight rebounds and five assists.

After a strong first half performance, Hazleton failed to keep up with the outside attack from Greater Allegheny. After a triple by junior Robbie Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa.) tied the the score at 43 with 16:36 to play in the game, things began to slip for the Nittany Lions who saw Allegheny go on a 25-8 run over the next eight minutes and change. Over that stretch the visitors connected on seven three point baskets, three of which came off the hot hand of Allegheny's Kenneth Rouse. Allegheny would lead by as many as 19 points after the run and never let Hazleton get within single digits from that point on. Rouse would finish the half with five triples in the frame on his way to a 32 outing on 12-of-16 shooting. 

Next up: Hazleton will look to bounce back in game two of the weekend double-header when the Lions get a visit from Penn State DuBois on Saturday, December 1 at 3:00 p.m.