Lions Battle Past Schuylkill 86-81

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine men's basketball team thwarted a late Penn State Schuylkill rally and hung on for an 86-81 victory on Saturday afternoon, upping its winning streak to six games.

Brandywine's lead sat at eight points following two Donte Winfield (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) free throws with 1:11 to play, but Schuylkill rallied by scoring seven points in a 53-second span to slice its deficit to 82-81. With 15 seconds remaining, Terrence Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) knocked down two free throws to up the Lions' lead to three points. During the ensuing possession, Schuylkill's contested three-pointer missed the mark and Isiah Cook (Reading, Pa./Reading) came down with the rebound for Brandywine. He made both of his free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.

The contest was tight throughout as Brandywine saw its eight-point first-half lead reduced to two points, but Dwayne Coleman (Philadelphia, Pa./Delaware Valley Charter) buried a jumper and Winfield knocked down two shots during the final two minutes of the half to give the Lions a 39-33 edge at intermission.

Schuylkill countered early in the second half, knotting the score at 43-43 when Rene Alexander connected on a triple less than four minutes into the period; however, Brandywine immediately answered, scoring the game's next 11 points, including an emphatic dunk from Brown that pushed the lead to 54-43.

Schuylkill again rallied, this time scoring 10 of the game's next 12 points, to pull within three at 56-53. Brown and Winfield helped Brandywine fight back, combining to score the next six points. The Lions' edge grew to to 13 after two Winfield free throws at the 6:26 mark and Schuylkill's final comeback bid was not enough as Brandywine won its 17th game of the season.

Brown topped all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting (8-8 FT) and grabbed seven rebounds, while Winfield produced 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Ameer Staggs (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) contributed 14 points and Coleman chipped in nine points and eight boards.

Brandywine's defense forced 25 turnovers, including 18 during the first 20 minutes, as six different players registered at least one steal, topped by Isaiah Lester's (Morton, Pa./Ridley) four thefts.

Brandywine (17-6, 12-2 PSUAC) goes for win No. 7 in a row on Tuesday at Penn State York during the team's final regular-season road game.