BUTLER TWP — Jace Lumley scored 50 points in his high school basketball career at Butler.

In one game with the Butler County Community College team, he's more than halfway to that number.

Lumley scored 27 points while battling cramping in his right calf, but the Pioneers fell 81-57 to Thaddeus Stevens School of Technology — aka Stevens College — in the season opener Friday night.

"We couldn't stop him," said Stevens College coach Clarence Pittman. "If he keeps that up, I think that team is going to be all right."

That's what first-year Pioneer coach Fred Skrocki is hoping.

He has just two returning players on his roster — Nick Rutkoski and Josh Marchinoski. The remaining members of the team are freshmen.

It showed againstStevens College.

The Pioneers led 13-12 midway through the first half, but Stevens College went on a 15-3 run to take a double-digit lead.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 23 points early in the second half before the Pioneers made one last run, keyed by Lumley's sharp shooting.

The freshman point guard hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points in a run that cut the lead to 63-51 with 4:38 remaining.

"I was proud of the way we battled," Skrocki said. "They played hard. One of the things we put on the board, what was the key to the game, was I wanted 40-minute men. I think that's what they did."

Many of the players on the Stevens College basketball team just concluded a successful football season and it took them a while to get their basketball legs back.

But once the Bulldogs did, they displayed the athleticism that makes them one of the favorites in the East.

For the Pioneers, the game was a good first test.

They get another big one Saturday when they host the Community College of Philadelphia, which hasn't lost a game in four years.

"We have a long way to go," Skrocki said. "But if we work our butt off and play hard, we can compete."

STEVENS COLLEGE 81Jonathan Culver 4-8 2-2 10, Christopher Davidson 2-3 2-4 6, BrandonDavis 15-21 3-7 33, David Diggs 1-3 1-2 3, William Groff 1-2 0-0 2, Donald Harrison 1-2 2-2 4, Quin Hartman 3-11 1-1 9, Lynnwood Hill 2-5 2-2 6, Kyle Norton 2-6 2-2 6, Jeremey Parker 0-0 2-6 2, Tyler Pope 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-62 17-28 81

BCCC 57Travis Williams 0-9 2-2 2, Jerry Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Max Krepps 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Drzemiecki 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Lumley 9-20 4-5 27, Josh Marchinoski 1-8 2-2 4, Chris Priester 2-6 0-2 4, Anthony Blumling 0-0 1-2 1, Nick Rutkoski 2-7 2-4 8, Matt Buczkowski 4-10 0-4 10, Jamal Pendleton 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 19-65 12-23 57

Halftime score: Stevens College 42-27.

3-point goals: Hartman 2; Lumley 5, Buczkowski 2