PSU Harrisburg rally at Penn College in the second half | News, Sports, Jobs
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Penn College’s Max Jackowsky shoots a second-half rebound against Penn State Harrisburg on Friday.
Penn College took on Penn State Harrisburg, the best team in the United States, as hard and as good as they could get throughout the first half Friday night at Bardo Gymnasium. Both teams went blow for blow in the first 20 minutes, and Penn College was seemingly able to match whatever PSU Harrisburg had.
But coming out of halftime, things started to move and change. Penn College didn’t seem to have the answers it had in the first half and slowly PSU Harrisburg slipped away. A two-point game at halftime gave PSU Harrisburg a double-digit lead and the Lions kept the offensive pressure up.
Penn College tried to pull away in the second half but couldn’t quite rally in a 92-74 loss.
The victory improves PSU Harrisburg to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the United States while the Wildcats fall to 2-9 and 2-2 in the league.
Throughout the first half, both teams used a 10-0 score to take the lead. The Wildcats held a no less than eight lead when Loyalsock graduate Rees Watkins hit a jumper with 9:39 left to give a 28-20 lead. But the Lions kept fighting and took him down.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Gavin Barrett of Penn College drives over the Penn State Harrisburg defense in the second half at Penn College on Friday.
The Wildcats wanted to limit what PSU Harrisburg did in the paint and did it very well throughout the first half.
“It was our priority. We have seen them on film. They are very good at attacking the basket. No. 22 for them, Dylan Daniels, is a post-up All-American. So we wanted to take the paint off them and challenge them to fight from 3”, Penn College coach Geoff Hensley said. “It went very well in the first half. In the second half they just got a little bit confident and it went bad really quickly.
It was a huge 14-0 run from the Lions that put the game out of reach for the Wildcats. That 14-0 run gave the Lions a 67-49 lead with 14:30 to play, and while Penn College continued to play hard and try to close the lead, the Wildcats couldn’t get the deficit under 20 points only twice in the last 11 minutes, 40 seconds of the game.
“They’re a really good team, it’s a really tough game for anyone in our conference. Our guys fought very well in the first half. said Hensley. “We got some great shots and took care of the basketball. In the second half, we just lost a bit of that focus. Many of their points were due to turnovers.
Penn College was led by Jesse White’s 19-point, 10-rebound double-double and Gavin Barrett’s 12 points. Corey Blackwell and Nouhanadou Diallo both added nine for the Wildcats
“They are impact players. Jesse’s defensive tenacity and rebounding helped us a lot on the defensive end. Gavin is our floor manager. He sends the ball to the right guys and can make plays. said Hensley. “So those guys are our two leaders on the pitch. The big thing is we have Corey Blackwell and Max Jackowsky, we have Gerald Ross, Reese Watkins. There are so many players around them that when we all click and are all on the same page, we make a really good team.
The Lions were led by 24 points from Zegary Scott III. Brandon Coleman added 14, Donyae Baylor-Carroll scored 13, Daniels scored 12 and reserve Pedro Rodriguez added 10 for PSU Harrisburg.
The Lions did a lot of damage from 3 points. PSU Harrisburg hit 12 3-pointers in the game, including eight in the first half.
“I have to find a way to figure out how to get them out of this rhythm. Give them credit, they’re a really good basketball team,” said Hensley. “We fought with them for a half. Next time we face them, we’ll just have to set up a full 40-minute game.
The Wildcats are on the road for their next two games at Lancaster Bible (Monday) and Wells (Wednesday) before returning to Bardo Gym for a game against Morrisville State on Saturday, January 22.
PSU HARRISBURG (12-1, 5-0 EU)
Brandon Coleman 5-10 3-3 14; Donyae Baylor-Carroll 4-13 2-3 13; Zegary Scott III 10-16 2-4 24; Nate Curry 3-7 0-0 7; Dylan Daniels 4-6 3-3 12; Chris Haynes 2-5 0-0 6; Lance Douglas 0-0 2-2 2; Pedro Rodríguez 3-8 2-2 10; Josh Martin 0-1 0-0 0; Alex Leiba 0-1 0-0 0; Malik Holland 0-3 0-0 0; Robert Bobeck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-70 14-17 92.
PENN COLLEGE (2-9, 2-2 EU)
Corey Blackwell 3-8 1-2 9; Gavin Barrett 5-5 2-2 12; Max Jackowski 2-7 0-1 6; Jesse White 9-11 0-4 19; Chris Coyne 1-4 0-0 2; David Brown 3-3 0-0 8; Christian Chandler 0-0 0-0 0; Will Sulesky 0-0 0-0 0; James Ross 2-5 0-0 5; Nouhanadou Diallo 4-8 0-0 9; John Paulino 0-0 0-0 0; Rees Watkins 2-3 0-1 4; Chris Cespedes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-54 3-10 74.
Halftime: PSU-H 49-47.
3-point goals: PSU-H 12-3 (Baylor-Carroll 3-9, Scott III 2-6, Haynes 2-4, Rodriguez 2-7, Daniels 1-1, Curry 1-2, Coleman 1-4, Holland 0-3), PCT 9-24 (Jackowsky 2-5, Brown 2-2, Blackwell 2-6, White 1-2, Ross 1-3, Diallo 1-3, Coyne 0-3). Fouling: PSU-H-none; pct-no. Rebounds: PSU-H 34 (Daniels 7), PCT 33 (White 10). Aids: PSU-H 17 (Scott III 7), PCT 21 (Ross 5). Technical fouls: PSU-Team H; PCT team. Total fouls: PSU-H 15, PCT 17. A: 235.