LH Men’s Basketball opens strong, defeats Charleston 66-63
JOHNSTOWN, PA – The Lock Haven men’s basketball team (1-0) opened the 2022-23 season against Charleston (0-1) in the 2022 Pitt-Johnstown Tipoff Classic on Friday and the Bald Eagles started off the year with a 66-63 victory.
The Bald Eagles put on a strong performance to start the season. Newcomers Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer), Gabe Springer (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Wallenpaupack (Lackawanna)), Jayy Davis (Cheltenham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham (Washinton)Adventist) and Jalen Gorham (York, Pa./MacDuffie School (Saint Michael’s)) created a presence of fresh faces for LHU, setting up an early 16-7 lead through the first ten minutes of the match.
Lock Haven finished off explosive, closing out the last ten minutes of the half on a 20-7 run, dropping 32 points in the paint as the Bald Eagles took a 12-point lead into halftime, leading 36-24.
The Golden Eagles rebounded to keep things close, starting the second half with a 17-8 run to decrease the lead to just three points as LHU led, 44-41, with ten minutes to play.
The final ten remained tight and the Bald Eagles led by only six with five minutes to go. The final minutes saw Charleston inch closer, but Lock Haven held strong and made a handful of clutch plays to seal the 66-63 victory.
Eli Washington (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) and Dymir Montague (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) led the team in scoring with each dropping double digits numbers, combining for 28 points. Montague and Gorham highlighted the defensive side, and each had at least three steals.
Lock Haven dominated the paint, shooting 41.5% from the field, and totaled 44 points in the paint.
The Haven will return to action for day two of the Pitt-Johnstown Tipoff Classic as the Bald Eagles will face off against West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday with tipoff at 2 p.m.
