Cunningham reaches 1,000 points in win over York

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa.  – The Roaring Lions put five players in double figures en route to a 106-81 win over Penn State York on Saturday in the Main Arena.  Once of those players – Brandon Cunningham – became the fourth men's basketball player in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau.

Cunningham (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) went into the history books with six minutes to play in the first half when he calmly drilled a free-throw to convert a three-point-play and give the Roaring Lions a 31-26 lead. On the night, he led all scorers with 24 and dished out three assists to go with three rebounds.

Matt McKenna (Pittsburgh, Pa.) notched a double-double scoring 22 and pulling down 13 rebounds to go with seven assists. Jacob Bronder (Jefferson Hills, Pa.) had 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

C.J. Gaddis (Brownsville, Pa.) added 14 to go with nine assists while Mario Reeves (Pittsburgh, Pa.) came off the bench to score 12 and had three assists.

An Evan Eberhardinger three pointer cut Fayette's lead to 31-29 with six minutes to play. A McKenna jumper started a 12-2 run that say the Roaring Lions (3-3, 2-0) take a nine point lead on Gaddis' free throw at 4:35.

York chipped away at the lead and a pair of Tyler Martin free throws near the end of the half cut Fayette's lead to just one, 46-45.

A Jewel Lucas free throw early in the second half gave York its final lead of the night at 48-46. Bronder tied it with a layup that started a 24-4 run that put Fayette in control of what had up to that point, been a tight game.

Fayette plays host to Main Fort Kent on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. before traveling to Penn State Beaver on Wednesday for a key PSUAC matchup.

NOTES: Cunningham joins David Winns, James Pratt and Michael Speelman as the school's four 1,000 point scorers.