Fayette can’t recover from early deficit
Holly Tonini
Penn State Fayette’s Will Gaines III jumps around College of Saint Joseph’s Rahiem Smalls (1) Wednesday during the USCAA National Championship Tournament being hosted at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Penn State Fayette's David Winns (11) attempts a layup between two College of Saint Joseph players during Wednesday's USCAA Tournament game.
Penn State Fayette's James Pratt takes a shot against College of Saint Joseph in the USCAA National Championship Tournament at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus.
Penn State Fayette's David Winns (11) drives around College of Saint Joseph's Rahiem Smalls Wednesday during the USCAA Tournament at the Eberly Campus.
Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus played even with the College of St. Joseph in the second half, but couldn’t overcome poor shooting in the first half and lost to the Fighting Saints, 92-72, in a USCAA men’s Division II National championship game Wednesday night.
St. Joseph shot 51.2 percent from the floor in the first half, while limiting Fayette to 27.8 percent, to take a 50-30 lead at the break. Fayette managed to make 41.5 percent of its second-half shots to keep the game within reach, but never got its deficit into single digits.
“We had a chance there in the second half to cut it to 11 or even single digits, but it didn’t go our way,” Fayette coach Mark John said. “We finished the game around 25 percent from the three-point line, but we’re usually better than that. In the first half, they just didn’t fall for us.”
Rahiem Smalls and Dale Jobst each scored 21 points, while Jobst added 18 rebounds and Smalls 10 rebounds. Fayette got 20 points each from Ryan Hart (12 rebounds) and David Winns (12 rebounds).
“We always try to look at the glass as half full,” Fayette coach Mark John said. “The fact that we played even with them in the second half shows a lot about the character and the make-up of the guys on our team. No matter what the score is, they want to keep playing and keep tryng to make the next shot.
“We have some very good shooters on our team and it they had hit more in the first half, it would have been a different outcome. But it is a testament to them that they kept shooting even though the shots were falling. We always preach that you’ll make the next one and they kept shooting tonight, like they were supposed to do.”
St. Joseph improved to 24-9, while the Roaring Lions fell to 11-16. St. Joseph meets Penn State Beaver at 2 p.m. today in the Main Arena, while Fayette drops into a consolation game at 3:15 p.m. today in the Maltho against Maine-Machias, which lost to Berkeley College earlier Tuesday.