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Penn State Wilkes-Barre captured its second straight USCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Photo courtesy of the USCAA.
Penn State Wilkes-Barre captured its second straight USCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Photo courtesy of the USCAA.
Penn State Wilkes-Barre captured its second straight USCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Photo courtesy of the USCAA.
Posted: Mar 13, 2024

Penn State Wilkes-Barre Secures Repeat with USCAA Title Game Victory

PETERSBURG, Va. - Penn State Wilkes-Barre hoisted the USCAA Division II Men's Basketball national championship trophy for the second season in a row, capturing the title with a thrilling come from behind 83-79 win over top seeded Cincinnati-Clermont on Wednesday night on the campus of Virginia State University.

Trailing by eight at the half, Penn State Wilkes-Barre needed to step up. They did just that, tying the score at 48 after heading into the break with a 42-34 deficit. But less than four minutes later the Nittany Lions trailed by 11 with just over 10 minutes to play. Head coach LeShawn Hammett used a timeout to settle his team and they would chip away at Clermont's lead the rest of the way. 

Rashod Ballard made a layup with five minutes left to bring Wilkes-Barre within one, and after exchanging two made free throws for each team, Jedidiah Ashton's layup with 4:02 put Wilkes-Barre on top for the first time all night. After Clermont tied it at 71, Ballard hit a three and Wilkes-Barre never looked back, making 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Jalen Willis led four Wilkes-Barre players in double figures, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Anton Berga added 18 points and Teequan Holley added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Ashton finished with 13 points off the bench, and Berga went 12-for-14 from the free throw line to help Wilkes-Barre's cause.

Wilkes-Barre won the rebounding battle 40-32 and despite making just one three-pointer, shot 48 percent from the field and 78 percent from the charity stripe.

The win marks Wilkes-Barre's second straight USCAA Division II Men's Basketball championship and third since 2019. Interestingly, Wilkes-Barre has not won a PSUAC championship in that time, speaking to the depth of the conference. However, Wilkes-Barre has peaked at the right time during the national tournament, and becomes the first individual program in PSUAC history with three National Championships.