Beaver storms past New Kensington, 90-56
By: Matylda Zamudio
MONACA, Pa. — The Penn State Beaver men's basketball team claims another conference win against PSUAC rival Penn State New Kensington at home on Thursday night after outscoring the rivals by 30 points in the first half.
PSUAC Player of the Week junior guard John Foster (Austin/Del Valle) landed on top of Beaver's scoring list tonight, earning a game-high 29 points and four rebounds.
PSUAC Player of the Week sophomore forward Andrew Brady (Alliance/Marlington) earned another double-double for the Lions with 24 points and 15 boards.
1st half: Beaver took an early 10-2 run to start the game and at 13:20, a Foster 3-pointer edged out a double-digit lead for Beaver with the score at 15-5. As the first half proceeded, Foster and Brady led the offense, combining for 39 points with Foster shooting 8-12 from the field and 5-7 from 3-point range, and Brady hitting 9-10 from the field. The defense also showed up big in the first, holding New Kensington to only 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 12.5 percent from 3-point range, which prompted Beaver to take a 30-point lead before halftime (56-26).
2nd half: In the second, the Lions did a good job rebounding the ball on both sides of the floor, allotting 23 boards, which helped them to stay comfortably ahead for the entire half. At the 10:46, Beaver built its largest lead of 41 points on a layup by Brady (77-36). In the final five minutes, the defense stayed solid and only allowed 7 points by New Kensington, and Beaver defeated New Kensington by a final score of 90-56.
Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 22.7 higher than New Kensington from the field and 39.9 higher from 3-point range. Beaver also outshot New Kensington 48-22 in points in the paint,10-2 on second-chance points and 11-8 on points off turnovers. Beaver outrebounded New Kensington 43-16 and racked up 20 more assists (27-7).
After today's win against New Kensington, Beaver improves to a 12-6 record in the PSUAC standings, also improving to a 16-8 overall record for the regular season. Beaver will be back in action to host Penn State York in their next game on Saturday, Feb. 16. The game is slated for 4:00 p.m.