LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Lock Haven University (10-12, 7-11 PSAC) opened the game on a 14-4 run and never looked back as the Bald Eagles rolled past visiting Shepherd University by a 68-50 score (10-13, 6-11 PSAC) on Monday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) men's basketball affair in Thomas Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Bald Eagles earned a split with the Rams on the season and ran their winning streak to four games. Lock Haven's four-game winning streak is its second such streak of the season, marking the first time that the Bald Eagles posted four wins in a row multiple times during the same season in more than two decades.
The victory also marked the 100th career win for Lock Haven head coach Mike Nestor.
Following the Lock Haven outburst to open the game, Shepherd responded with a run of its own to trim the deficit to four. The Rams used an 8-2 run to trim the LHU advantage to 16-12 with 7:59 to play in the opening half.
Lock Haven controlled the remainder of the first half of play. Over the final eight minutes of the half, the Bald Eagles went on a 16-7 run to take a 32-19 lead into the locker room.
At the intermission, The Haven was led offensively by a pair of players in double figures as Eli Washington (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) led the way with a dozen points and DaQuan Granberry (Linwood, Pa./Chichester) added 10. Lock Haven shot at an effective 51.9% (14-of-27) clip over the first 20 minutes of action.
Out of the halftime break, the Bald Eagles pushed their lead to a then game-high 19 points with another run to open the half. Washington opened the frame with a driving layup before capping off a 15-6 run with another driving score to extend the Lock Haven advantage to 44-25 with 14:50 to play.
After the Lock Haven run, Shepherd responded with five quick points to draw its deficit to 14 points but that's as close as the Rams got. Washington converted a pair of free throws and added a three pointer over a 15-second stretch to push the Lock Haven lead to 20 points at a 52-32 tally with 9:07 remaining.
Both teams traded scores over the final nine and change of play, with the LHU lead surging to as high as 21 points in the latter part of the contest as Lock Haven moved to double digits in the win column with a 68-50 victory over the visiting Rams.
Washington finished the game with a game and career-high 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting. His 31-point evening marked his 12th double-figure effort of the season. The Lancaster, Pa. native also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds on the evening.
MarkAnthony Fidelis (Largo, Md./DeMatha) chipped in 14 for the Bald Eagles and Granberry added a dozen in the win. Dymir Montague (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) was impressive as well, tallying seven points to go along, a half-dozen rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
The Haven posted a 26-14 scoring advantage in the paint.
With the win, the Bald Eagles have posted double-digits in the win column in each of the last three seasons.
Up Next:
The Bald Eagles return to action on Wednesday, February 16 when they travel to Bloomsburg. Tip time against the Huskies is set for 6:00 p.m.
