The Golden Eagles basketball team took an insurmountable lead near the midway point of the first half and rode the wave of momentum to a 96-65 win over visiting Penn State New Kensington on Saturday in Founders Hall Gym. With the win the Eagles are 2-0 while the Lions fall to 0-1 on the young season.
An early 8-2 KSU Tusc lead was erased by the visiting Nittany Lions who roared back several times to keep pace after the Navy and Gold tried to put them away in the first half. Down 17-8, the Lions made a feisty run at KSU Tusc and minutes later a breakaway dunk and a three-pointer netted them five straight points as they climbed to within 24-21.
Two Lion free throws and a Golden Eagles turnover later, the score stood at 26-25 in the hosts favor with 8:10 left in the opening half. A call to arms by Coach Tharp sounded and the Eagles responded with 12 straight points to blow the doors off a close game, as they glided to a 38-25 advantage.
London Cobbs got things soaring with a deep three, followed by a DeJuan Lawrence facial dunk over a Lions defender, a three-point play on a slam and free throw by Kameron Shockley, to go along with a couple more freebies by Lawrence and a Braden Rostad drive to the hoop. The Eagles held PSNK scoreless for nearly three and one-half minutes during the spell and rode the updraft to a 47-36 lead into the locker room.
It was more of the same in the final half as the Golden Eagles outscored the visitors 49-29 over the last 20 minutes of play.
Up tempo defensive and offensive pressure led to six unanswered Eagles points as they secured a 53-36 lead before PSNK was able to answer. A 14-2 spurt which began at the 12:47 mark afforded KSU Tusc a 72-52 lead and was highlighted by some spirited play by the Eagles.
Cobbs found James Roundtree in the lane who banked home a basket to get things rolling. Kam Shockley made and old-fashion three-point-play after a steal and lay in, Cobbs added two more feebies and a three-pointer before going glass for another hoop on a great backdoor find from Shockley for a 20-point lead.
Down the stretch the Eagles outscored PSNK 23-13 highlighted by three-balls by Arthur Jackson and Kyle Shockley, a dunk by Kameron Shockley and pretty lay in at the rim by Vincent Roper.
Cobbs led all scorers with 26 points, was a perfect 12/12 at the free throw line, 6/11 from the floor and had six assists. He led four other Golden Eagles who all scored in double figures, as Lawrence scored 18---14 in the opening half---to go along with 10 boards, Jackson had 16 off the bench with 12 of them in the first half on 7/10 shooting, Kameron Shockley had 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals, while freshman brother Kyle added 11, six caroms, three assists and three steals of his own. Off the bench, James Roundtree snagged six rebounds.
For the game the Eagles drained 22/28 free throws (79%) and rained in seven shots from behind the arc. They scored 27 points in transition and 22 points off of 27 Nittany Lion turnovers. KSU Tusc shot 44% from the floor and dished out 25 assists, although they outrebounded the Lions by one board 47-46.
The Golden Eagles travel to Thomas More University next Saturday, November 13th to play in the two-day Connor Classic. They square off against Georgetown College at 6:00 p.m. and then face Thomas More on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
DeJuan Lawrence with the blocked shot. London Cobbs dunks for two.
Kameron Shockley rises up for a slam.
James Roundtree scores a basket. (Photos by Jason Keller)