MEDIA, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine’s women’s basketball team continued its winning ways, while the men’s squad halted its skid by posting a pair of Penn State University Athletic Conference victories last week.
The Brandywine men escaped with a 76-74 home victory over Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Monday behind a career-high 19 points off the bench from junior Edward Sanchez. Sanchez hit on 5-of-6 shots during the first half and helped secure the win by sinking a pair of free throws during the final minute. The Lions held off Wilkes-Barre, which missed a potential game-winning, three-point shot as time expired, for their second league triumph.
Brandywine then hit the road for two games in the western half of the state at Penn State Beaver and Penn State Greater Allegheny.
The Lions opened the road swing with a 99-96 overtime victory at Beaver, the team’s first overtime game in over four years. Brandywine last played a game that required an extra five minutes on Jan. 16, 2013, claiming an 80-77 victory against Penn State Mont Alto.
Fueled by a career-high 27 points, including nine that came in overtime, from freshman Shafi Mohammad, Brandywine won its second consecutive game. James Fisher, who made six of Brandywine’s 12 three-pointers, helped secure the win by forcing a Beaver turnover during the host’s final possession.
Brandywine trailed by as many as 20 points at Greater Allegheny (GA) on Saturday before cutting the deficit to four, but GA pulled away in the end for an 87-76 victory. For just the second time in nine conference games, Brandywine did not hold a lead in the second half of the game.
Brandywine’s women’s squad stretched its longest winning streak in six years to 11 games with three victories last week. The Lions are one game short of matching what is believed to be the longest winning streak in program history – a 12-game string during the 2010-11 season.
Brandywine led Wilkes-Barre by 25 points through three quarters before Wilkes-Barre made a late run, but the Lions captured a 55-45 victory on Monday night. Freshman Nikki Velez buried five three-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points.
On Friday night, the Lions handed Beaver its first home conference loss in nearly two years, with a 69-58 victory. Brandywine trailed by two points at halftime, but exploded for 29 third-quarter points to pull away.
The third quarter was kind to the Lions once again on Saturday as Brandywine used a 24-2 surge to end the stanza, putting an end to Greater Allegheny’s upset bid. Brandywine picked up a 67-41 triumph by holding the hosts to 27 percent shooting. Velez added 14 more points in the win and now ranks fifth in the league in scoring at 16.5 points per outing.
During the upcoming week, both squads will play all home games. The women’s team plays its final non-league game of the year on Tuesday against the University of Valley Forge, while the men follow suit Wednesday versus the Patriots. Brandywine then hosts a PSUAC doubleheader against Penn State Fayette Friday night before the men’s team closes out the week Saturday afternoon against Penn State New Kensington.
Complete box scores, recaps and updates for Penn State Brandywine athletics are posted at psubrandywineathletics.com.