Brandywine Tops Schuylkill To Claim Season-Opening Victory

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine topped former conference rival Penn State Schuylkill 80-69 to win its men's basketball season opener for the third time in four years on Friday night.

Amari Little (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) fueled the Lions' offense with 30 points in his Brandywine debut. He shot 10-of-11 from the field, knocked down four three-pointers and sank all six of his free throw attempts.

Jaden Fogg (Morrisville, Pa./Morrisville) just missed a double-double, recording 19 points and nine rebounds, along with three assists, three steals and three blocked shots. Fogg drained 11-of-13 shots from the free throw stripe. Joey Brusha (Abington, Pa./Abington) buried four triples en route to adding 12 points.

Brandywine chipped away at an early 11-point deficit, using five three-pointers to take their first lead of the night at 20-19. The Lions scored nine-straight points behind the three-point shooting of Little and Brusha to cap the a 20-8 run.

The hosts jumped back in front, leading by as many as five points, but Little aided a late surge with seven consecutive points that put the Lions on top with 1:10 to play in the half. Fogg's jumper with 25 seconds remaining sent Brandywine into intermission holding a 38-34 edge.

Schuylkill trimmed its deficit to one point twice during the early stages of the second period before Brusha, Dillon Jones (Wilmington, Del./Hodgson Vo-Tech) and Damir Shelley (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) combined for six-straight Brandywine points that pushed the Lions' lead to 49-42 at the 14:02 mark.

Brandywine was limited to just two points during the next five minutes and Schuylkill took advantage, cutting the margin to 51-48; however, Fogg answered with four consecutive points and Little added a bucket before Jones extended the Lions' edge to double figures for the first time with a triple.

Fogg sank eight free throws during the game's final four minutes and Little drained all six of his free throw attempts with less than 40 seconds to play to help the Lions secure the victory.

Jones chipped in six points and seven rebounds, while Shelley notched four points and a team-high four assists for the Lions, who shot 51 percent from the field and canned 10 triples.

Brandywine overcame 27 turnovers by limiting Schuylkill to 2-for-22 shooting from beyond the arc.

Brandywine (1-0) will host another former league rival, Penn State Hazleton, for its home opener on Monday at 7:00 PM.