STATE COLLEGE -- Unfortunately for Penn State New Kensington, the final four was marred by finality. The Lions' promising season came to an end Thursday afternoon as they dropped a 73-55 decision to Penn State McKeesport in the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference semifinals at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. PSNK, which had hoped to advance to today's championship game, finished the season at 14-13. Penn State McKeesport (18-12, 18-2) proved to be too experienced and deep for the local Lions to handle. "They are an experienced team and in a game like this experience means a lot," Penn State New Kensington coach Gary McAfoose said. "My hat's off to them because we got them down but we couldn't keep them down." Penn State McKeesport advances to play Penn State Abington in the CCAC championship game at 3 p.m. today at State College. A combination of nerves and an aggressive McKeesport defense led to poor shooting early on for PSNK in the first half, as the Lions struggled to put points on the board early. Penn State McKeesport jumped to an early 7-0 lead before PSNK freshman Jamil Nelson's tip-in at the 15-minute mark of the first half put the Lions on the board and cut McKeesport's lead to five. PSNK freshman Aaron Knight showed grit and kept his team from falling behind big by diving on the hardwood for loose balls while scoring five of his 10 points during a run that pulled PSNK to within one at 18-17. Knight scored 24 points in a pair of losses to McKeesport during the regular season. Up by one, McKeesport went to their senior sharp-shooter Mike Moser. He dropped two consecutive 3-pointers to put McKeesport up by six. PSNK managed to claw its way back and make one more run by cutting the lead to one at 29-28. But McKeesport responded by putting together another six-point run to cool off the local Lions' attack. The half ended with McKeesport ahead, 40-34. "We have to get out on their shooters; they shot lights out," McAfoose said after the half. "We have to respect Moser a little more and get out on him." McKeesport came out in the second half much more aggressive as its suffocating defense held the local Lions to just 21 second half points. A combination of an aggressive McKeesport defense and a commanding lead -- which at one point grew to 20 -- forced the PSNK offense into poor shot selection. "They just had a nice run in the second half," McAfoose said. "They did their job and we didn't do ours; we just didn't make the shots." Brian Nichols led PSNK with 14 points. Knight also grabbed six rebounds. Darnell Turner led McKeesport with 20 points, Anthony Rivers added 14, and Moser had 13. PSNK (55) -- Jamil Nelson 3 1-2 7, Jon Bradford 2 1-4 5, Aaron Knight 4 2-3 10, Rob Cugini 2 2-2 7, Dominick Logan 0 0-1 0, Brian Nichols 5 2-3 14. PS-McKeesport (73) -- Anthony Rivers 5 1-2 14, Mike Moser 4 1-2 13, Andrae King 2 2-3 8, Nathaniel Maybrey 1 2-2 4, Bill Kane 0 2-2 2, Darnell Turner 9 1-1 20, Lydell Walker 2 2-2 8, Antoine Gaines 2 0-0 4.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---