McKeesport, PA. – When talking about the Penn State Greater Allegheny Men’s Basketball team’s 2018-2019 season, one might call it a rollercoaster of emotions. PSUGA had some epic highs and some lowest of lows but, through it all, they kept fighting and made the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and kept the winning tradition that head coach Tyler Care has built up over the last five seasons.
2018-2019 started out on a high note as PSUGA won their first four of their first five games to start the season. Their offense was key early as they had back-to-back night’s where they broke the single game scoring record with wins of 120-92 and 121-65. With what Care called one of his most talented teams he has ever had at PSUGA, things were looking good for PSUGA to make a bid for the program’s fourth PSUAC championship.
However, the start of conference play did not go as PSUGA planned. They got upset in their conference opener falling to PSU-Shenango 67-64 and went on to lose three of the first four conference games and sat at 1-3 heading into the final game of the break. PSUGA desperately needed a win before the Christmas break to gain some sort of momentum and luckily for them, they were taking on winless PSU-DuBois. Jordon Payne (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport HS) and Kenny Rouse (Duquesne, PA./West Mifflin HS) got PSUGA the momentum they would need putting up 28 and 24 points respectively to net PSUGA an 87-70 win.
This sparked the team’s longest winning streak of the year when they rattled off six straight victories and jumped from fifth place in the PSUAC West Division up to the top spot with a record of 7-3 in conference play. After a loss to the eventual PSUAC Champions PSU-York, PSUGA would win their next three games including a big 68-65 win over PSU-Brandywine that PSUGA won on a last second half-court buzzer beater by Koran Fleming (Wilkinsburg, Pa./Westinghouse HS).
They would play hard against PSUAC runner-up PSU-Wilkes Barre falling 62-56 but then clinched a playoff spot with back-to-back wins over PSU-Beaver and PSU-New Kensington. They just needed a win against Shenango in the final week of the season to lock up a home playoff game. However, things didn’t go as planned and they fell 81-77 and dropped two of their last three games to end the regular season. They would then have to go on the road to face Shenango in the quarterfinals of the PSUAC playoffs and their season ended with a 64-61 defeat.
Payne had another strong offensive year in his senior season leading the way with an 18.8 points per game average and finishing as the fourth leading scorer in the PSUAC with 452 points. It was the second highest point total of his career as he led PSUGA to the playoffs once again. Payne finished his four-year career with 1760 points, finishing just 86 points shy of the program record set by Anthony Rivers back in 2006.
Payne is one of seven seniors leaving the PSUGA men’s basketball program and each has left their own mark and will sorely be missed. This year’s class has helped lead PSUGA to the playoffs in all four of their seasons and helped Care instill a tradition of winning for the PSUGA men’s basketball program.
Despite the loss of seven seniors, the future continues to look bright for the PSUGA Men’s Basketball team. Many of their returning players saw valuable minutes this season as they transition into being the foundation of next year’s program. Guys like Fleming and Rouse have established themselves as offensive leaders and guys like Colby Hall (Hopewell, VA./Dinwiddie HS) and Eronn Hammond (Pittsburgh, PA./University Prep) look to become mainstays in the starting lineup as they usher in a new era of PSUGA Men’s Basketball.
