MONACA, PA – DeJaun Owens (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry Charter School) scored 20 and Daniel Thompson (Brooklyn, NY/St. Thomas University) chipped in a season and career-high 15 off the bench as #1 Villa earned an 80-66 road victory over Penn State Beaver on Friday evening.  The Vikings shot 56.3 percent from three and had production from everyone as they improved to 4-0 in true road games.
 
The Vikings came into the game ranked number one in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Poll for the third straight week.  Participating in the Beaver Holiday Tournament, Villa got production from all 10 players that saw minutes, a season-best.  They have now won five straight and improve to 10-1 on the season.
 
Villa fell behind early 9-5, but responded mightily with a 23-2 run to take a 28-11 lead, it's largest of the first half.  After starting cold from the field, a layup from freshman Lonnie Taylor (Medina, NY/Medina High School) kick-started the offense.  After that bucket, Owens went coast-to-coast to tie the game at nine.
 
Following Beaver's only bucket of the run, Villa ripped off 19 consecutive points fueled by the three-ball.  Owens connected on two triples before sophomore Kevin Ford (Buffalo, NY/Amherst High School) made two free throws.  It was then that Thompson got hot.  He connected on his first shot attempt of the game, a triple from the left wing.  After two free throws from junior Kwanique Martin (Brooklyn, NY/Frank Phillips Community College), Thompson hit two more in a row, the final, a pull up three in transition to force a Beaver timeout.
 
Penn State responded late in the first half and cut what was a 17-point lead at multiple points in the half, down to eight, 43-35 at the break.  They closed the half on an 8-0 run and held Villa to just three points over the final 4:57.
 
Beaver opened the second half with five straight and were within three, 43-40 but Villa responded with a 13-4 run to go back ahead by 12, 56-44 with 14:37 left.  Villa extended that lead to 18, 66-48 with 9:39 left after two buckets from Owens, a layup from Taylor and two free throws from Martin.  Villa led by as many as 20 in the second half en route to picking up the road victory, it's fourth of the season.  They improved to 4-0 on the road and 6-1 in games not played in the Villa Athletic Center.
 
Thompson finished with a career-best 15 points and Martin finished with your second double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  Taylor and junior Dominic Douglas (Bainbridge, GA/Bainbridge High School) each finished with eight points and five rebounds.
 
BOX SCORE
Villa Maria (10-1, 3-0 NIAC)                                 43 – 37 – 80
Penn State Beaver (2-9, 1-4 PSUAC)                  35 – 31 – 66
 
INSIDE THE BOX
* The Vikings had 10 assists on 27 made baskets
* Villa's 23-2 run in the first half came during a 5:30 stretch (16:08 à 10:38) in the first half
* The teams each had 24 points in the paint
* Villa outscored Penn State's bench 33-22
* Villa edged out Beaver on the boards (40-31)
* Beaver won the battle on the offensive glass (11-10)
* Villa shot 68 percent (17-25) from the free throw line while Penn State shot 61.3 percent (19-31)
* Villa held Beaver to just 7.7 percent (1-13) from beyond the arc
* All 10 players that touched the floor for Villa scored, the most in a game this season

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Don Silveri: "The big first half run fueled us but we let them back into the game at the end of the first half.  I thought we kept out composure when things were going our way and we were able to push the lead back up to double digits and eventually 20.  We have a quick turnaround so we have to get ready for Fayette tomorrow, a top-20 team."

UP NEXT
Villa will take on #20 Penn State Fayette in the final game of the Beaver Holiday Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m.  It will be the first ever meeting between Fayette and Villa.  Fayette fell 108-87 in the opening round of the tournament to #9 University of Cincinnati-Clermont.

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