Knights hang tough early, fade late in home opener

By Tyler Daron

Knightly News Reporter

tyler.daron@mymail.centralpenn.edu

The Central Penn College Knights men’s basketball team battled Penn State York in their home opener at East Penn Middle School on Tuesday, falling by a score of 73-57.

Coming into this game, Knights coach Gary Martin said he was looking to implement a similar strategy to the last couple of games. He noted, “We’re sticking with the same game plan, but ultimately, we’re incorporating more guys into it because now, two weeks into the season, more guys are on pace with what we start out with [in games].”

To look at the score does no justice to how close and competitive this game was, with the Knights hanging tough throughout the majority of the contest.

The Knights started strong by winning the tip-off and getting the first points on the board, thanks to power forward Riley Young. After this, the game was back and forth. Just as Penn State York responded, the Knights would answer right back with a bucket of their own. First-year Knight Keon Blanding-Dockens was hot in the first half, leading the team with 10 points in the game’s early stages.

The game continued as a give-and-take until Penn State York’s James Barlow threw down a thunderous dunk to give them the momentum for the moment with 11:37 left in the first half. Penn State York increased the score gap to seven.

But, just as they’ve done all game, the Knights answered right back with some baskets of their own, keeping pace with the high-powered Penn State York team. As the first half came to a close, Anthony McClinton made a clutch 3-pointer to keep it close. Going into halftime, it was just a 3-point game with a score of 40-37 in favor of PSU York.

The Knights came out fired up in the second half, taking the lead in less than two and a half minutes, bringing the score to 43-42.

The lead switched between the teams as both teams continued to make layups and jump shots. The score went from 43-42 to 44-43 to 45-44 as this match heated up with both teams feeling the pressure. But the Knights took the 45-44 lead thanks to a Tyray Cooper jump shot and seemed to be gaining momentum.

But the momentum shifted away from the Knights. Some quick fouls sent Penn State York to the line on several occasions, and they began to pull away. With 8:38 left, Penn State York’s Lui Abdeta made a layup, followed by a jump shot from teammate Kamrin Carroll, making the score 58-51.

With 6:27 left, McClinton hit another contested jumper, keeping the Knights within striking distance, trailing 60-55. Down the stretch, though, a Carroll 3-pointer and a Marquise McClean basket extended Penn State York’s lead to 14, never to look back.

With two minutes left, Blanding-Dockens made a layup in an attempt to turn the momentum on their side late in the game, but Penn State York answered back with a couple of layups to put the game away. The final score was 73-57.

In speaking with coach Martin after the game about what is next for the Knights, he shared, “It’s definitely going to be rebounding. You can’t get taller, which you definitely could use, but we are going to hone in on everybody having to box out.” Martin added, “We have to make sure everybody is crashing the boards together, boxing out, and it needs to be secured by not one individual, but by our team.” To Martin’s point, the Knights lost the rebounding edge by a considerable margin, 41-27.

Marquise McClean led Penn State York’s scoring effort, tallying 21 points and three assists. Abdeta chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Blanding-Dockens was the Knightly News Player of the Game, scoring 12 points while going 6-7 from the floor and grabbing three rebounds. Khalil Dukes added eight points and five rebounds.

Central Penn fell to 1-3 on the season. The Knights’ next game is on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m., when they take on Williamson Trade in an Eastern States Athletic Conference matchup.