Pierce Leads PSUD to Victory in PSUAC Opener

Tristan Pierce (Lancaster/Lancaster Oh) scored 32 points on 11-20 shooting (4-9 from 3, 6-6 ft), grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished 6 assists to help Penn State DuBois open PSUAC conference play with a home win over Penn State New Kensington 97-82. The first 20 minutes saw both teams struggle to come up with defensive stops or making a push at a substantial lead. PSUD found themselves in foul trouble for most of the half as both big men were on the bench. Shooting guards Tristan Pierce and Dane Aucker (DuBois Central Catholic/DuBois,Pa) kept PSUD in the game with high percentage shooting going a combined 10-16 from the floor in the first half that saw PSUD going into the break with a 1 point lead.

After half time adjustments, PSUD was able to tighten the defensive end which lead to transition offense with great passing from the home team. PSUD would out rebound PSU New Ken 28-17 in the half as well as dish out 10 assist to New Ken's 1. Consecutive baskets by freshman Dylan Huey (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney/Pa) at the 15:15 mark helped PSUD grab a 6 point lead which was the largest of the game up to this point. This small lead would last until the 6:33 mark when Jesse Reynolds (Ridgway/Ridgway,Pa) nailed a deep 3, followed by back to back baskets from Pierce that pushed the lead to double digits. PSUD would push the lead to as many as 17 in the final 2 minutes with executing on the offensive end and making 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.

Dane Aucker ended with 19 points and Jesse Reynolds secured a double double with 12 points and 10 boards. As a team, PSUD outrebounded New Ken 50-34, and passed 21 assists compared to New Ken's 6.

Moving to 1-0 in the PSUAC and 4-2 overall, PSUD will be back in action Friday at home against defending PSUAC conference champion PSU Mont Alto at 8 pm. The following day, PSUD will play host to PSU York at 3 pm.