Brandywine Runs Away With Key PSUAC Victory Over Hazleton

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine held a nine-point halftime lead and pulled away during the second half to knock off Penn State Hazleton 77-57, earning a key Penn State University Athletic Conference men's basketball victory on Tuesday night.

Brandywine, which now owns a two-game lead over a trio of teams, including Hazleton, in the race for the No. 3 seed in the PSUAC Tournament, led wire-to-wire.

Vince Zulli (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) scored 10 of his 13 points during the final 9:06 of the first half to help keep Brandywine in front. He knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give Brandywine a 26-20 lead and later stretched the margin to 11 points by sinking a layup with 57 seconds to go before the half.

Bryce Barrouk (Glen Mills, Pa./Rustin) led the scoring effort early in the second period as he poured in eight points during the first 1:43 and Brandywine's lead swelled to 17 points.

Hazleton trimmed the deficit to 10 points by the 14:35 mark, but a dunk plus a free throw from Colin Hockenbrock (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) and a triple by Jamar Wright (Wilmington, Del./Conrad School of Science) ballooned the margin back to 16 points.

The visitors answered with a three-pointer to make the count 56-43, but Brandywine held Hazleton without a basket for the next eight minutes and used a 14-2 surge, spurred by six points from Devon Jones (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) and another Zulli triple, to put the game away. A pair of free throws from Jaden Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa./GAMP) at the 3:31 mark gave Brandywine its largest lead of the night at 75-48.

Zulli notched a season-high 13 points, while Hockenbrock tallied an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Barrouk led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed eight boards. Jones and Wright each added eight points.

Brandywine shot 45 percent from the field and canned 11 triples, while shooting 12-of-16 at the free throw line. The Lions held a 43-29 edge on the boards and received 38 points from their reserves.

Thursday night, Brandywine (11-15, 9-6 PSUAC) returns home to host Penn State Wilkes-Barre for Senior Night at 8:00 PM.