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Trojans run too much for Knights

MOUNT UNION–The Mount Union boys basketball team took care of business in Wednesday night’s Inter-County Conference win against Moshannon Valley. The Trojans used a relentless offense and a killer defensive effort to top the Black Knights, 61-31.

Devin Delo scored a game-high 17 points for Mount Union while Kobe Hand recorded a double-double, dropping 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

When looking at the final score, it would be hard to believe that the Trojans struggled at any point in the game, but in the first quarter, that is exactly what happened.

After both sides struggled to get on the board, Dayvon Wilson made a basket and Jayvien Brumbaugh drained a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead. However, Moshannon Valley scored the next 13 points to close the quarter, including a 30-foot shot at the buzzer that bounced off the rim, and then the backboard, before falling through the net.

Mount Union is a young team, and could have easily slumped its shoulders after letting the lead slip away in the blink of an eye, but the team showed maturity that will only benefit them moving forward.

“I think a lot of is was just focus,” coach Scott McClain said. “The JV team handled them, so they just thought it was going to carry over… but, they’re young and they won’t believe it until they see it.”

The two teams battled for the second quarter as Mount Union looked to crawl back into the game. With two minutes remaining, they closed the gap to one point before taking a 22-21 lead into halftime. Delo and Hand each scored six points in the pivotal quarter.

Going into the second half, leading by one, Mount Union put the pedal to the metal as they began the quarter on a 17-0 run. Again, it was Delo and Hand who led the charge, scoring eight and seven points in the third quarter, respectively. Brumbaugh hit a 3-pointer and Wilson buried two free throws to cap a 20-point quarter.

“He’s a big presence in the middle and you could see that we were kind of hesitant to go inside until he came in the game,” McClain said on Hand. “Once he came in the game, he kind of settled us down offensively. Plus, his defense in the middle and rebounding… makes a big difference.”

Now that the game was seemingly in Mount Union’s control, McClain was able to get the entire team involved. Seven different Trojans scored in the fourth, en route to another impressive quarter, as Mount Union outscored Moshannon Valley, 19-5.

“They’re young… and I did get a lot of young combinations out there at the same time,” McClain said. “At first, they looked a little (off), but the more they played, they looked better together. It’s bright for the future.”

Mount Union will look to build on its blowout win when they return to action on January 20 when they host Juniata Valley.

Mount Union 61, Moshannon Valley 31

MOSHANNON VALLEY

Daves 4 1-1 10, Kitko 3 1-1 9, Dufour 2 0-0 5, Murawski 1 2-3 4, Hansel 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 4-7 31.

3-point goals: Kitko 2, Dufour, Daves, Hansel.

Did not score: N. Webb, E. Webb, Coder, Shoemaker.

MOUNT UNION

Devin Delo 6 0-0 17, Kobe Hand 7 1-3 15, Jayvien Brumbaugh 3 0-0 9, Dayvon Wilson 2 2-2 6, Ian Brodbeck 1 2-2 5, Cameron Trice 2 0-0 4, Sincere Randolph 1 1-1 3, Trey Heffelfinger 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 6-8 61.

3-point goals: Delo 5, Brumbaugh 3, Brodbeck.

Did not score: Lucas Barksdale.

Score by quarters:

Moshannon Valley 13-8-5-5 31

Mount Union 5-17-20-19 61

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