West No. 4 Penn State New Kensington Falls to No.1 Mont Alto in Quarterfinals

MONT ALTO, Pa. - West Division No. 1 seed Penn State Mont Alto knocked off Penn State New Kensington on Monday in the men's basketball quarterfinals.

Senior Joseph Dusabe (Toronto, Ont. / Fox Chapel) led New Kensington to a strong start Monday night as the men took advantage of Mont Alto's early air balls and missed passes. Dusabe drove the lane to earn his 10 points of the first half while Benjamin Cunningham (Woodbridge, Va. / Christ Chapel Academy) continued to bury jumpers until the opening 20 minutes ran out.

New Kensington has always been a team of shooters. Aubrey Feaster II (Buffalo, N.Y. / William B. Travis) was dangerous from the wing and only Mont Alto's defensive positioning and boxing out could stop additional contributions by both Feaster II  and Dusabe who were posted up at all times.

Mont Alto began heating up and took the lead midway through the half. Shyheim Flanagan (St. Martinville, La. / Westside) hit a jumper to tie the game at 20 with under 10 minutes left. Feaster II scored from the top of the key to put New Kensington ahead 25-22.

The fouls piled up and Mont Alto benefited from subsequent free throws. The lead changed again with 4:26 left, this time Mont Alto leading 27-25. New Kensington would not regain the lead for the rest of the half despite Dusabe's excellent work in the paint. The half ended in Mont Alto's favor 37-29.

Cunningham showed up to the second half to total 11 boards, and 13 points. He was five of 11 from the field. Sophomore ​​Evan Clarke (Aston, Pa. / Garnet Valley) hit his share of jumpers with Dusabe dropping three dimes along the way.

A fastbreak made for an easy layup that ultimately sealed the deal for Penn State Mont Alto who held the lead 77-58 with 3:08 left in the game. The New Kensington offense played with tenacity and successful inbound passes and strong drives in the paint. Mont Alto proved faster on their scoring turnarounds finishing 86-66 and advancing to the next round.

Evan Clarke led New Kensington's scoring, shooting five of 11 from the field and 15 points. Freshman Aubrey Feaster II ended his extraordinary season with 14 points. And right behind him was Benjamin Cunningham with 13. As a team, New Kensington shot 22 of 58 from the field and was 15 of 22 on free throws.

In the beginning, the men's team could be compared to a series of puzzle pieces that have yet to be assembled. Each player has their place and purpose. The coaches, staff, and Penn State New Kensington community are the ones who do the assembling. There is very little chance this is the first time the analogy of a puzzle was used to describe a sports team, but this does not take away from its meaning.

The spirit of a team such as this cannot be fabricated nor can it be rallied overnight. There are some benefits to the season spanning such a long period of time, and the men have demonstrated their patience and ability to work through the many months with the goal of ultimately peaking in early spring. The players have commented in the past that this has been the plan since November. Now, we find ourselves so many weeks later at the end of February when the time for the big payoff has made an appearance.

The men's team has shown that they took their time with the end of the season and navigated into the playoffs slowly and surely, as a ship navigates its way through dangerous waters. The only difference between this basketball team and a vessel, say, is that this team was not exposed, instead, they were the predators. The fundamentals have been at the forefront of their focus since those days in November before even the cold arrived.

Audiences at recent games would note that the energy has been much different, and will remain much different next season. The men had the advantage of playing on their home court for the first playoff game. This is something that is not taken for granted in sports, even when the games are especially arduous. "In those situations, I feel like that's just something that does happen in a basketball game," said Shyheim Flanagan at a February 7 practice. "It could be fatigue or it could be just the nerves of playing in that situation. But as a basketball player, you just have to overcome those situations."

The men's team has set the standard for overcoming in games when the score is tight. More times than they care to remember, they won a game when the season was on the line. "There are going to be times where you're up 20 and a team comes back," said Flanagan "There will be times when you're down 20. We just have to stay level-headed and everything will work its course."

The level-headed playing has allowed them to persevere through a difficult schedule at the end of the season. They absorbed more of the energy they showed in the past week and prepared to win, and if need be, overcome even more challenging games. "I think we showed it two games ago," said Sammy Carey at a February 16 practice. "I think that just shows us the growth from the beginning of the season until now. I think that definitely validates us to get a little more recognition around the conference and around the country."

The men's basketball program averaged 77.9 points per game this year and ended their season 14-14. 

Written by Matt Heavner, PSNK Athletics Communications Intern