Penn State Scranton Basketball Completes a Successful Senior Night

by Ross Turetsky

Dunmore, PA- On Tuesday evening, Penn State Scranton hosted another highly successful Senior Night for both the women's and men's basketball teams, as well as the hard working members of the cheerleading squad. In total, seven seniors, one member of the men's basketball team, Casey Holman, and six cheerleaders, Antonia Corma, Brooklynn Miller, Kayla Mickavicz, Jillian Helferich, Kalia Jefferson, and Kassandra Salazar were all honored in an emotional and heartfelt ceremony alongside their loving families, friends, and fellow classmates in between the women's and men's basketball games for their great years of service and dedication to their craft. To make this magical night even more special, both basketball teams treated their home fans to two exciting contests, first the women's squad who lost a close 72-67 overtime thriller to perennial powerhouse Penn State Lehigh Valley and then the men's squad who dominated throughout for an overwhelming 15 point, 97-82, victory to increase their season-high winning streak to three.

Penn State Scranton head cheerleading coach Stacy Shattuck loves to see these dedicated student-athletes get the recognition they so rightfully deserve during the Senior Night festivities. "Senior night is a chance to recognize a student who has given endless hours and dedication to a sport, team and school they love. Everything they do is about the team and the group as a whole, but the senior night ceremony is the one chance to be honored as an individual at the culmination of years of immense hard work. Being a student-athlete at Penn State Scranton is something that our students carry with them for years to come and senior night is the commencement to a chapter of their lives they will never forget," said Coach Shattuck.

The Lady Lions kicked off the night in their penultimate game of the regular season and for the final time on their home court, and they did not disappoint in their near upset win over Lehigh Valley. Earlier this season, back on January 28^th, Scranton lost big 75-40 on the road against Lehigh Valley, however, this time around would be a whole different story as they sought to avenge that early season defeat. The Lady Lions kept the game close throughout, as they trailed by only two, 19-17, after the first quarter, by six, 32-26, at half-time, by five, 48-43, after the third stanza, until finally catching Lehigh Valley and tying the game up at 63-63 at the end of regulation. After 40 minutes did not suffice in deciding a winner, the Lions had plenty of electric home crowd momentum heading into the five minute overtime period. Unfortunately, Lehigh Valley would outscore Scranton by five, 9-4, in the overtime session to capture the hard fought triumph. In total, the Lady Lions were in a tight, neck and neck and back and forth game all night long, as the lead changed hands seven different times and both teams were locked in a tie seven times as well.

Scranton was led by the exceptional performances of their five starters, four of which scored in double figures. Junior Danielle Powell led the way scoring a game-high 22 points, to go along with her four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Courtney Varcoe poured in 14 points, to go along with her five boards and five steals. Junior Rachel Lewis put up 12 points, to go along with her team-high five assists and four steals. Fellow junior Alyssa Cuono added 11 points, along with her five rebounds and four steals. Last but certainly not least, junior Jessica Berger had a team high 10 rebounds, to go along with her six points in the contest.

Lehigh Valley head coach Lorie Khalil's squad with the win improves to 15-9 overall and 13-4 in the all-important conference play, currently sitting in third place in the conference standings. The road warriors were led by four of their players who scored in double digits on the night. Ebony Sanders led the way and imposed her will in her dominant low post game, as she had a double-double and scored a team-high 19 points and a whopping 25 rebounds, as well as four blocks. Jah'nel Oliver poured in 15 points and 11 boards to capture her team's second double-double in the ball game. Anaya White added a solid 11 points and four rebounds. Finally, Makayla Brown-Paul was stellar off the bench with her 10 points.

Now head coach Tom McIntyre and his Lady Lions will play one final game to wrap up their regular season schedule this Friday night, when they take the short road trip to play conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre for a 6 pm tip-off.

Meanwhile, in the men's basketball game, Penn State Scranton ran out to a 41-33 advantage by half-time, and in the second half of play never looked back in their dominant 97-82 triumph over Lehigh Valley. Back on January 28^th, Scranton won by just a mere point on the road, 77-76, in a nail-biter right down to the final buzzer over Lehigh Valley. With Tuesday night's win, Scranton clinched the two game season series sweep over conference foe Lehigh Valley.

Although both squads were almost identical with their solid field goal and three point percentages in the matchup, Scranton took great advantage by out rebounding their opponent 44 to 31, in second chance points 20 to 5, in points in the paint 44 to 16, and in bench points 35-12.

Scranton was led by their balance scoring attack from their starters and solid players coming off the bench, as four of their players scored in double figures. Reigning PSUAC conference player of the week, stand-out junior point guard Matt Dessoye led the way with his game-high 30 points, to go along with his well-rounded seven rebounds and nine assists. Fellow junior Arel Lamour poured in 17 points, to go along with his four boards and three steals. Sophomore Rob McAndrew led his squad with nine rebounds, to go along with his five points. Coming off the bench the dynamic sophomore duo of Corchado Kente and Melick Lubin were stellar throughout the game. Kente added 14 points and four boards, while Lubin tallied 12 points and seven boards. Last but certainly not least, Holman, the lone senior on the squad, got to start the game and made the home crowd and his teammates erupt in excitement when he nailed a deep three pointer with just seconds remaining in regulation to put the perfect finishing bow on the fun-filled Senior Night festivities.

With the defeat, first year Lehigh Valley head coach Ray Edwards' team fell to 1-23 overall and 1-17 in conference play. Lehigh Valley was led by the stalwart performances of six of their players, five of which scored in double figures. Connor O'Brien led the way by scoring a team-high 20 points, 12 of which came from his four three pointers he connected on in the ball game. Dajour Douglas matched O'Brien's 20 points, to go along with his five rebounds and five assists. Hesro Johnson III added 13 points and three boards. Demond Farley also poured in 13 points and three rebounds. Nicholas Herman came off the bench and successfully hit on three of his six three point attempts to score a solid 11 points. Finally, Moses Onwega had a game-high 14 rebounds as a powerful force down low, to go along with his four points.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his Penn State Scranton men's basketball team will look to continue their winning ways and capture their fourth victory in a row, when they travel on the road this Friday night to play conference foe Penn State Wilkes-Barre for an 8 pm tip-off before wrapping up their season on Saturday afternoon at Penn State Shenango.