Brandywine Races Into PSUAC Semifinals With 93-66 Triumph

MEDIA, Pa. -- Top-seeded Penn State Brandywine took care of business during the opening round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament by rolling through fourth-seeded Penn State Lehigh Valley 93-66 on Sunday afternoon.

Brandywine, which defeated Lehigh Valley by double figures twice during the regular season, built a 13-point halftime lead and did not let the visitors hang around during the second half, outscoring Lehigh Valley 22-11 during the first nine minutes of the period to extend the margin past 20 points.

The game was tightly contested during the opening eight minutes, but Johnta Dunson's (Philadelphia, Pa./Freire Charter) layup at the 11:44 mark started a 12-3 Brandywine run to push the Lions' one-point lead to double figures. Lehigh Valley trimmed the margin to seven with 2:51 to go before the half; however, Jaden Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa./GAMP) netted five points during an 8-1 spurt to close the stanza, giving Brandywine a 43-30 edge at intermission.

Brandywine canned a trio of three-pointers during the first four minutes of the second period to extend the lead to 54-36 and saw the margin reach 20 points for the first time when Colin Hockenbrock (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) sank a layup at the 15:50 mark.

The Lions continued to pull away as Jordan Graves' (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) bucket near the midway point of the half made the score 69-43 and six minutes later, Olayinka Itabiyi (Chester, Pa./Chester) gave Brandywine its biggest lead of the game at 87-58 with a layup.

Brandywine, which received scoring from 12 different players, was led by Hockenbrock's 18-point, 13-rebound performance. Bryce Barrouk (Glen Mills, Pa./Rustin) tallied 16 points and a team-high 17 rebounds, while Devon Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington) netted 11 points and Kelly notched 10. Dunson and Jamar Wright (Wilmington, Del./Conrad School of Science) both chipped in with nine points.

Brandywine received 33 points from its reserves and held a commanding 57-38 edge on the boards. The Lions shot 44 percent from the field, while limiting Lehigh Valley to 30 percent shooting.

Brandywine (19-7) will host either Penn State Greater Allegheny or Penn State New Kensington on Wednesday night in the PSUAC Tournament semifinals.