NEW KENSINGTON, Pa - The Penn State New Kensington men's basketball team defeated Penn State Greater Allegheny at home on Saturday in their second matchup of the season.
Four weeks after a close loss, New Kensington handled Greater Allegheny with the same swagger they have been carrying in their recent games. Dunking has become the preferred method of scoring among the men, and to the home crowd, it is without a doubt an ingredient of the many entertaining personalities of the team.
Those who have been following the team would say there were no surprises Saturday night in the Athletic Center as the men erupted out of the gate with a forty-minute surge of scoring. Shyheim Flanagan (St. Martinville, La. / Westside) put the first points of the game up for New Kensington and was swiftly followed by the outstanding performance of Evan Clarke (Aston, Pa. / Garnet Valley) on both sides of the ball. The defense was a major component overall for the men with Clarke taking advantage of every defensive rebound he could.
Jovan Kojic (Subotica, Serbia / Canterbury) maintained his signature body blocks under the hoop and Joseph Dusabe (Toronto, Ont. / Fox Chapel) emerged as the most physical player of the game. New Kensington held at least a 10 point cushion lead through the first half as Benjamin Cunningham (Woodbridge, Va. / Christ Chapel Academy) contributed his share of points by dunk.
While New Kensington seemingly had control of the game, Greater Allegheny stayed on their heels with regard to scoring consistency. At the conclusion of the first half, the remainder of the game looked bright for New Kensington as they had a much more efficient scoring operation in the paint.
New Kensington led by 10 at the half 36-26. Notable scoring of the half included Cunningham with 10 points, Flanagan with nine, and Aubrey Feaster II (Buffalo, N.Y. / William B. Travis) with four. Additionally, there was no time to waste at the start of the second period and New Kensington's work rate increased considerably.
The men were much more methodical in their passing and this assisted in their noticeably improved scoring in the paint. New Kensington outplayed, outpaced, and outworked Greater Allegheny for the entire second half. Jovan Kojic went on a personal scoring run as New Kensington extended their lead to 20 with 12:33 left in the game.
The men's scoring went unanswered with Feaster II, Dusabe, and Clarke taking their turns. The lead soon extended to 30 at the two-minute mark and New Kensignton pulled away. Locking in a win does not mean that the entertainment should stop, though. Jared Sidwell (Apollo, Pa. / Harvest Baptist Academy) was added to the breakaway dunking list in the final seconds. In the end, Greater Allegheny did not stand a chance.
New Kensington finished with the win 77-51 to get to .500 on the season. The game's scoring leaders were Shyheim Flanagan and Aubrey Feaster II checking out with 16 points, Evan Clarke, Jovan Kojic, Benjamin Cunningham with 10, and Joseph Dusabe with seven. The men played a fantastic game overall with very few mistakes or missteps.
The final days of the season have been very eventful for the men's basketball team. There was talk of them reaching their peak in mid-January. It is no coincidence then that they also manufactured two winning streaks during the month and came within inches of beating two of the top teams in the country.
It has to be difficult for the players of the men's basketball team not to look back at their last few fantastic performances that unfortunately resulted in a loss. Perseverance is a word that pops up quite a lot when discussing sports but after each victory, there is yet another obstacle. Instead of letting these challenges add up, the men's approach has been to take the lessons of each game and use them to improve into a more efficient team, even when their game efficiency is already top-notch.
All of the men are offensive machines in their own right. The big change of that last month was without a doubt the team's defense. Scoring is not the problem and as of late, neither is the defense. When analyzing where the holes in the team could be, it is unanimous that early heavy scoring brings a level of comfortability that is not conducive to keeping a hot game pace. This is not to say that the men are not capable of it, because they certainly are.
In fact, they have displayed their ability to play all the way through the 40 minutes on multiple occasions this season. For the players, though, it is just a matter of doing it every game. The strategy to achieve this is still being ironed out.
"I think we're going to stay the same," said Shyheim Flanagan during a February 7 practice. "Keep trusting in Coach Mack. That's what I would say to everyone out there. Because Coach Mack knows what he's doing, he knows the right game plan for us. I don't think we have to do anything differently. Just do what we do but just do it better. Coach Mack knows exactly what needs to be done and we just have to go out there and execute."
Any witnesses to the last month of gameplay would agree. And perhaps this is the great mystery of sports. Nothing is fundamentally wrong with the team, nor is there a lack of effort. While their play is very consistent and decisive, these student-athletes are not machines, and practice, along with more games, is the best place to harmonize.
"We need to execute a lot better," said Aubrey Feaster II during a February 7 practice. "[The coach] was talking a lot about the refs, a lot of people got in foul trouble. That hurt us a lot. Defensively we weren't that good. We just have to clean some stuff up in practice."
The men are set to play Penn State Beaver at home on Monday, February 14, at 7:00 p.m.
Written by Matt Heavner, PSNK Athletics Communications Intern
