Scranton Lions Fall to New Kensington

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Friday night, in their first home contest in 20 days, the Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad lost to conference foe Penn State New Kensington by the score of 80-51, as they dropped their fourth straight ball game, all in league play. With the defeat, Scranton's overall record falls to 4-6 and in the all-important conference play they now stand at 1-5.

The road warriors from New Kensington got off to a red hot start and never looked back, as they jumped out to a sizeable 37-23 advantage by half-time. Then in the game's final 20 minutes, New Kensington would show no let up, as they outscored Scranton by 15 points, 43-28, to cruise to their dominant 29 point victory.

On the evening Scranton was held to just one player scoring in double figures, as their stand-out sophomore big man Marcus Delesline set the pace on the offensive attack down low. Delesline scored a team-high 14 points on a highly efficient 7-11 shooting from the field, to go along with his four rebounds, and two steals in his gritty 25 minutes of solid play. Honorable mention also goes to junior guard Macio Robinson, senior Justin Craigg, and junior forward Angelo Gyamfi who put up quality efforts in the contest. Robinson tallied eight points and three assists, while Craigg came off the bench and provided a much needed spark on offense with his eight points in just 14 minutes on the court. Last but certainly not least, Gyamfi also came off the bench and provided a stalwart low post presence with his team-high eight boards to go along with his four points.

On the New Kensington side of things, Scranton held their opposition to just two players scoring in double digits in the matchup, as sophomore Aubrey Feaster II and freshman guard Ta'Rasi Means led the way on offense. Feaster II scored a stellar game-high 15 points on a near flawless 7-8 shooting from the field, including nailing in his only three point attempt of the ball game, to go along with his four rebounds, a steal, and an assist in just 20 minutes on the floor. Meanwhile Ta'Rasi in his quality 17 minutes coming off the bench, put up 12 points while shooting a perfect 6-6 from the field, to go along with a trio of assists, two steals, and a rebound.

Now head coach Chris Sload and his 4-6 Penn State Scranton men's basketball squad will look to snap their four game losing streak in the second game of their back-to-back conference battles against Western Pennsylvania schools, this time when they host Penn State Shenango on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off scheduled for an early 1pm matinee. Meanwhile, head coach Brant Mack and his Penn State New Kensington ball club, who saw their overall record improve to 5-5 and 4-3 in league play after their impressive road win over Scranton, will look to continue their winning ways when they travel on the road to face off with conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Saturday afternoon at 3pm.