Brandywine Fends Off Valley Forge; Evens Record At 2-2

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. -- Playing its first of four games in the next seven days, the Penn State Brandywine men's basketball team evened its record at 2-2 following a 76-72 victory over the University of Valley Forge on Sunday afternoon.

Brandywine led wire-to-wire after opening the game with five-straight points from Donte Winfield (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz). Isiah Cook (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Rob Tindley (Lawnside, N.J./Haddon Heights) combined for seven consecutive points to grow the Lions' lead to 19-11 by the midway point of the first half, but four minutes later, Valley Forge answered with six-straight points to climb within four.

Tindley and James Fisher (Philadelphia, Pa./Upper Darby) knocked down back-to-back three-pointers, giving Brandywine its largest edge of the half at 31-20; however, the Patriots used an 8-3 spurt to close the half to slice the deficit to 39-36 at the break.

The Lions led by just one on three occasions over the first two minutes of the second half, but Fisher drained a triple and Terrance Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) and Ameer Staggs (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) followed with buckets to up the margin to eight.

After Valley Forge trimmed the deficit to five points with under six minutes to play, Fisher countered with back-to-back baskets and Staggs added a jumper at the 1:44 mark, making the score 71-62.

The next six points went to the Patriots as the hosts netted points on three consecutive possessions to make it a one-possession game with 41 seconds remaining. After the teams traded free throws, Winfield connected on a shot from the charity stripe to provide the final margin and secure Brandywine with its second victory of the season.

Fisher hit four trifectas and connected on 8-of-17 shots from the field overall to lead Brandywine with 22 points. Tindley, who buried a trio of threes, added 16 points, while Winfield posted 12 points along with four steals and Brown tallied 10 points. Cook collected nine points and four rebounds.

Staggs hauled in 14 boards, including five on the offensive end, for Brandywine, which forced 21 turnovers, while committing just 10 miscues. Brown grabbed six rebounds and Fisher and Winfield each pulled down four.

Alex Sanchez topped all scorers with 25 points for the Patriots, who were limited to 1-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.

Brandywine opens Penn State University Athletic Conference play on Tuesday at Penn State Schuylkill. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.