EDINBORO, Pa. – The Edinboro men's basketball team could have survived a tough shooting night from the PSAC's leading scorer, and two more injuries to an already depleted roster, but head coach Pat Cleary's team was unable to overcome a dominating performance by Gannon on the McComb Fieldhouse glass on Wednesday night. The end result was an 80-69 loss to the Golden Knights.

The loss is the fourth straight for the Fighting Scots as they are now 4-10 overall and 2-8 in the PSAC West. Gannon picked up fourth straight win, and the 200th for head coach John Reilly, while improving to 9-5 and 7-3, respectively.

While the score was tied just only four times, and tied just twice, Edinboro refused to go away. The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 14-7 lead just under six minutes into the game as Mike Beck made a pair of 3-pointers and Jaymon Mason and Mikael Anderson added one apiece.
 

Gannon responded with 11 straight points to grab an 18-14 lead with 9:49 remaining in the half.  The Golden Knights would build that lead to nine points at 27-18, with just over four minutes to play.

Back came the Fighting Scots, as they ran off the next eight points on another Beck three, and a layup and 3-pointer by Mike Sims. That brought the deficit to 27-26, and the half ended with the two teams tied at 30-30.

Edinboro found itself trailing by their largest deficit of the game until the final minute at 59-49 midway through the second half. Two minutes later the Gannon lead was down to one point at 61-60 on the strength of a 11-2 run. Sheldon Brogdon's jumper in the paint got the comeback started, with Mason hitting a 3-pointer, followed by another Beck trifecta, and capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Jon Girvin.

Unfortunately, that was as close as Edinboro would get. Gannon scored the next seven points to boost their lead to 68-60, and down the stretch the Fighting Scots were unable to pull down critical rebounds. Over the last seven minutes, Gannon pulled down nine offensive rebounds.

That was part of a 50-33 rebounding advantage for a Gannon team that came in ranked second in the PSAC and 18th in Division in rebounding margin at +8.4. Edinboro battled on even terms in the first half, trailing just 23-21. Gannon finished the night with 25 offensive rebounds.

Mason ended the night with a team-high 18 points, but the junior guard was hounded all night and made just 6-of-25 shots from the floor. He would add five rebounds and seven assists.

Beck continued his strong play with a season-high 17 points, amking 6-of-10 field goals, including 5-of-7 3-pointers. Brogdon was also in double figures with 10 points. Anderson, who had to leave the game briefly with an injury, and Girvin paced Edinboro with seven rebounds apiece. Sims had nine points in  just 11 minutes, but left the game with just over ten minutes remaining with an injury and would not return. Andre Frederick blocked six shots for the second straight game.

 

Gannon also showcased three double-figure scorers. Matthew Dogan made 6-of-13 3-pointers on his way to a 26-point night, with Evan Phoenix adding 24 points and eight rebounds. Zay Jackson made 5-of-15 three's to total 19 points. Damon Miraud pulled down 22 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end, and Jimmy Berger totaled 11 assists.

Edinboro ended the night shooting 41.0 percent from the floor (25-of-61), and was perfect from the free throw line. However, they went there just eight times. Gannon shot 40.6 percent (28-of-69), but after a cold first half shot 51.4 percent in the second half. The Golden Knights were 12-of-24 from the line.

The Fighting Scots return to action on Saturday, January 14, playing at 12th-ranked Indiana(Pa.). It ends a string of five games in 12 days for Edinboro.