Men's Basketball Snags First Conference Win of the Season

DuBOIS, Pa. – Penn State New Kensington's men's basketball team snagged their first conference win of the season over Penn State DuBois, 98-89. New Kensington bumps up to 1-2 in conference games and 5-4 overall while increasing their winning streak to two.

DuBois started off the game with the first few points, but New Kensington quickly responded with two free throws made by Lamar Lewis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick). New Kensington managed to pull ahead and never fell behind DuBois for the rest of the game. Lewis contributed nine points in the half, seven of which were free throws. Midway through the first half, DuBois tightened up the score, 18-17, but once again, New Kensington produced eight points to maintain a solid lead.  Jakob Richardson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) kept the lead alive by putting up 15 points in the first half. He also snatched eight rebounds, one of which he converted into a layup and put New Kensington up 31-21. For the last minute, New Kensington held DuBois at 36 points with strong defense and rebounding. The first half ended with New Kensington leading, 48-36.

The second half proved to be just as triumphant as the first for New Kensington. DuBois gained the first seven points, but Carrington Smith (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and Tavon Ngangum (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) stepped up and both scored within seconds of each other. Again, Smith got his hands on the ball and made a three-pointer for the team, putting the score at 55-46. Around the midpoint of the half, DuBois began putting numbers on the board, closing in the gap between the teams. Lewis answered with a triple and continued to excel until the end of the game, leading the team with 13 points in the second half. Smith was tough on defense with 2 steals. New Kensington finalized the game by dropping in four free throws.

Richardson led the Lions with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Lewis finished with 22 points and three steals. Smith added 17 points and six boards. Nate Andrews (Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic) contributed 13 points to the game, while Ngangum and Brent Ivory (Pittsburgh, Pa /Seton LaSalle) also reached double-digits with eleven and ten, respectively.

Penn State New Kensington will host Penn State Shenango on Sunday, Dec. 16. The game is planned to take place at 2:00 p.m.

Written by Janet Surma