Hazleton slips late in loss to Lehigh Valley

Hazleton, Pa. - Hazleton dropped their second PSUAC game of the season on Tuesday night, falling on their home court to Penn State Lehigh Valley by the final score of 67-53. Both teams struggled to find points in the first half leading to a 23-23 stalemate at the midway point, but Lehigh Valley broke through in the second half for 44 points in the final 20 minutes of play while Hazleton continued to be idle from the field. The Lions shot just 27 percent from the floor in the second half and connected on just 5-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc, allowing Lehigh Valley to pull away late in the game. Hazleton trailed by just six points with less than ten minutes to play in the game until a 10-0 run by Lehigh Valley gave the visitors a healthy cushion leading into the home stretch. Hazleton closed the gap to 11 points with four minutes remaining but were unable to cut the deficit into single digits in the final minutes of action. 

Points came at a premium on Tuesday night for the Lions who had just two players reach double figures in the scoring column. Junior Jerome Warrick (Alexandria, Va.) topped all players for Hazleton, totaling 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, adding seven rebounds to his credit while freshman Kyle Artis (Allentown, Pa.) chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort.