Lewis Nets 25 Points in Win Over WCCC

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. - The Penn State New Kensington men's basketball team, led by freshman guard Lamar Lewis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick), triumphed over Westmoreland County Community College, 117-55, Wednesday night. Lewis dropped in 25 points, had nine assists, and grabbed six steals as he helped New Kensington start the season off 3-0. 

The Lions built a 9-2 lead behind five points from junior guard Tavon Ngangum (Silver Spring, Md./Prince George's CC), but WCCC was able to scratch its way back to within two points at 12-10. New Kensington responded with 16 unanswered points, nine of which came at the hands of Jakob Richarson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle). The Lions continued to extend their lead, outscoring the Wolfpack 30-21 through the rest of the first half. At halftime, New Kensington led 58-31 and Ngangum had 15 points.

The second half proved to be much like the first, with the Lions scoring the first eight points and piling on their lead from there. Halfway through the second half, New Kensington put together a 13-0 run, highlighted by five points from sophomore William Philpot (Oak Harbor, Wa./Oak Harbor) to bring the score to 93-45. New Kensington went 11-12 from the charity stripe en route to hitting the century mark for the second game in a row.

Six Lions hit double digits in the game. Besides Lewis's 25 points, Ngangum had 19, freshman Carrington Smith (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) had 17, Richardson picked up 15, junior Nate Andrews (Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic) had 11, and junior Tavarski Wardlow (Round Rock, Tx./Hendrickson) added 10 points. Smith also had a game-high eleven rebounds to go with four steals, while Wardlow also had four picks. 

The Lions will head to Johnson City, N.Y., this Friday, Nov. 16, to compete in the Quality Inn Showcase at Davis College. They are scheduled to tip-off against SUNY-ESF at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.