New Ken finishes season with loss to Shenango

SHARON, Pa. – New Kensington took the court one last time for the 2019-20 men's basketball season on Friday against Penn State Shenango. Although New Kensington was able to outscore the host in the second half, it wasn't enough to top Shenango's numbers and caused a 93-81 loss.

New Kensington will end play 3-16 in the PSUAC and 4-21 overall, while Shenango improves to 10-8 in conference play and 10-14 overall with one contest remaining.

Throughout the first half, New Kensington paced with Shenango to keep it a tight frame, until Shenango used the last 10 minutes to break away and take the reins of the contest. Tavarski Wardlow (Round Rock, Tex./ Hendrickson) kept New Kensington in the game with three from behind the arc.

Shenango grasped a 41-26 lead with 2:41 left to play, and Wardlow and Wilson Rojas (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Havelock) used the extra time to net two more three-pointers to finish New Kensington's scoring for the half.

Shooting in 18 of 37, Shenango was able to put in eight more field goals than New Kensington. With one frame to go, New Kensington trailed 46-32.

New Kensington outshot Shenango in the second half, going 19 for 41, while Shenango only connected on 12 of 24. Even with New Kensington's advantage from the field, Shenango hit its largest lead of the game, 68-40, at 13:09.

Jamison Nee (Natrona Heights, Pa./ Highlands), Jahi Ogbonna (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Allderdice), and Rojas contributed double digits to New Kensington's numbers to help push it over the home team.

Two free throws from Donovan Verges wrapped up the contest in Shenango's favor.

Nee led New Kensington one last time with 19 points, adding two rebounds and three steals. Rojas was right behind with 15 and took four rebounds. Netting 14 points, Wardlow also led with five assists. Joseph Dusabe (Toronto, Ont./ Fox Chapel) totaled up the most rebounds, five.

Overall this season for the seniors, Nee was the forefront of New Kensington's offense with 351 points. Nee also tied for most assists, 79, and led with 52 steals. Wardlow produced 166 points, 33 of which were three-pointers, and had 58 rebounds. Rojas netted 100 points and added 19 assists.

For Shenango, Tyler James landed 20 points and 15 rebounds. Verges posted 18 points and added 11 rebounds, while BJ Williams led with seven assists and tallied 16 points.

Shenango will host Penn State Scranton at 2 p.m. on Saturday for its last contest of the season.

Written by Janet Surma