York Fends Off Brandywine In Final Minutes

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine held a two-point edge with 73 seconds to play, but six-straight Penn State York points were too much to overcome as the Lions dropped a 58-57 Penn State University Athletic Conference men's basketball decision on Wednesday night.

Brandywine trailed 33-23 at the half and found itself facing a 40-25 deficit with 17:30 to play; however, the Lions fought back using their defense, holding York without a point for 9:33 and without a made field goal for more than 10 minutes.

Brandywine began its comeback with a four-point play from A.J. Dreger (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) at the 17:27 mark. Joey Brusha (Abington, Pa./Abington) followed with eight-straight points during the next 1:50 to help the Lions climb within three.

Dreger's layup made the count 40-39 before Colin Hockenbrock (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) gave Brandywine its first lead since the opening minutes of the game by canning a jumper. Jaden Kelly's (Philadelphia, Pa./GAMP) jump shot made the Brandywine lead 43-40 with 8:34 on the clock.

York ended its cold spell with five-straight points, but Brandywine answered with five consecutive points of its own.

Three minutes later, Quentin Wells netted four points in a row to give the visitors a 51-50 edge, but Casey Caruso (Harrisburg, Pa./Lower Dauphin) made a layup to help Brandywine retake the lead. After a York free throw tied the count at 52-52, Caruso added another bucket to hand Brandywine a two-point edge at the 1:37 mark.

York countered with three points from the free throw line and a steal and fast-break basket from Charles Warren to lead 57-54 with 20 seconds to play. After Brandywine misfired on a shot, York made one-of-two free throws with five seconds left. Hockenbrock drilled a triple at the buzzer to provide the final margin.

Brandywine featured four double-figure scorers paced by Dreger's 13 points. Hockenbrock notched an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Caruso added 11 points and Kelly poured in 10. Brusha collected nine points against his former team.

Brandywine (5-11, 5-6 PSUAC) begins a three-game road trip Saturday at Penn State Hazleton (2:00 PM).