Idle since Dec. 14 for the semester break, Pennsylvania College of Technology basketball teams prepare to step back onto the court Wednesday for the second half of their seasons.
Men’s Basketball
“We left a few wins on the table in the first half of the year, but I think that is common with such a young team. The majority of our heavy rotation players are freshmen, sophomores or transfers to the program,” assessed coach Chris Lemasters of his team.
“The things that have worked so far this year for us is we have a group that continues to come into practice and work hard every day. They are a group that is hungry for gym time and willing to put in the extra effort after wins and losses,” the third-year coach continued.
“We continue to need work on playing together as a team. We’ve had injuries to some key players that have taken them in and out of the rotation, so hopefully everyone healed up over the break and we can have a nice stretch run here.”
The Wildcats, who are 2-7 overall, play Wednesday at Lancaster Bible College and the bulk of their games the rest of the way will be against North Eastern Athletic Conference opponents. They are 1-2 presently in conference play.
“For our first year in the conference, I’m excited to have one league win already and think the game with Penn State Berks was a lot more competitive than the score looked. This is a very tough conference, but I think if we continue to improve and play together as a team that we can battle out some more wins this spring and really get some momentum going for next year,” Lemasters added.
Junior Kevin Laurence-El, of Milton, leads the team in scoring with an 11.3-points-per-game average. Sophomore Thomas Ross, of Williamsport, is averaging 8.3 ppg and junior Nathanial Brown, of Philadelphia, 8.0. Laurence-El is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game and Ross 5.0.
Lancaster Bible leads the NEAC South Division with a 2-0 record and is 6-1 overall. Also in the NEAC South, Gallaudet is 1-0, 5-2; Penn State Abington is 1-0, 1-6; Penn State Berks is 1-2, 1-7; Wilson College is 0-1, 1-4; and Bryn Athyn is 0-1, 0-8.
Women’s Basketball
The Penn College women are 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference heading into Wednesday’s NEAC game at Lancaster Bible College and coach Matt Wilt believes his squad is still on track to make the playoffs.
“We got off to a rough start, we had some tough teams. Now, starting league play, I said before, I thought we could compete in the league and possibly make the playoffs, so we should be fine.
“Playing good teams early helped a lot. We’re doing a great job rebounding the basketball and we’re shooting like I thought we would, we’re shooting the ball pretty well,” Wilt said, of the positives he has seen so far. But he has a couple areas of concern.
“We’re still turning the ball over a lot and we need to pick up the defensive intensity a little bit more. At times when we get behind and we’re in dire straits, then we really heat up. We’ve got to do that from the opening tip instead of waiting until we get down. We’ve got to play defense the whole game,” continued the coach, in his fifth season.
Anna Raybuck, a 5-foot, 7-inch forward from Mount Carmel, will join the team this semester and Wilt said, “that should help a lot.”
Three Lady Wildcats are averaging double figures in scoring: Sophomore Alicia Ross, of Williamsport, is at 15.6; junior Jamie Steer, of South Williamsport, at 15.3; and sophomore Charese Bova, of Beech Creek, at 14.7. Bova is averaging 17 rebounds per game as Penn College is averaging 47.9 rebounds per game and its opponents 42.
In the NEAC South Division, Lancaster Bible is 2-0 (4-2 overall), St. Elizabeth is 2-0, 3-3; Penn State Abington 1-0, 4-1; Gallaudet 1-1, 2-3; Bryn Athyn 0-1, 1-5; Wilson College 0-2, 1-3; and Penn State Berks 0-3, 0-6.
PENN COLLEGE SCHEDULES/RECORDS
Men’s Basketball
Overall record: 2-7
NEAC record: 1-2
Wednesday, Jan. 7 – at Lancaster Bible College, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 10 – host Gallaudet University, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 11 – at Wilson College, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – host Penn State Abington, 8 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
Overall record: 3-4
NEAC record: 2-1
Wednesday, Jan. 7 -- at Lancaster Bible College, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 10 – host Gallaudet University, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 11 – at Wilson College, noon
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – host Penn State Abington, 6 p.m.
Wrestling
Overall dual record: 1-7
Saturday, Jan. 17 – triangular at Gettysburg College with Gettysburg, 1 p.m., and Southern Virginia University, 3 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 18 – at Millersville University Shorty Hitchcock Open, TBA
Men’s Basketball
“We left a few wins on the table in the first half of the year, but I think that is common with such a young team. The majority of our heavy rotation players are freshmen, sophomores or transfers to the program,” assessed coach Chris Lemasters of his team.
“The things that have worked so far this year for us is we have a group that continues to come into practice and work hard every day. They are a group that is hungry for gym time and willing to put in the extra effort after wins and losses,” the third-year coach continued.
“We continue to need work on playing together as a team. We’ve had injuries to some key players that have taken them in and out of the rotation, so hopefully everyone healed up over the break and we can have a nice stretch run here.”
The Wildcats, who are 2-7 overall, play Wednesday at Lancaster Bible College and the bulk of their games the rest of the way will be against North Eastern Athletic Conference opponents. They are 1-2 presently in conference play.
“For our first year in the conference, I’m excited to have one league win already and think the game with Penn State Berks was a lot more competitive than the score looked. This is a very tough conference, but I think if we continue to improve and play together as a team that we can battle out some more wins this spring and really get some momentum going for next year,” Lemasters added.
Junior Kevin Laurence-El, of Milton, leads the team in scoring with an 11.3-points-per-game average. Sophomore Thomas Ross, of Williamsport, is averaging 8.3 ppg and junior Nathanial Brown, of Philadelphia, 8.0. Laurence-El is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game and Ross 5.0.
Lancaster Bible leads the NEAC South Division with a 2-0 record and is 6-1 overall. Also in the NEAC South, Gallaudet is 1-0, 5-2; Penn State Abington is 1-0, 1-6; Penn State Berks is 1-2, 1-7; Wilson College is 0-1, 1-4; and Bryn Athyn is 0-1, 0-8.
Women’s Basketball
The Penn College women are 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference heading into Wednesday’s NEAC game at Lancaster Bible College and coach Matt Wilt believes his squad is still on track to make the playoffs.
“We got off to a rough start, we had some tough teams. Now, starting league play, I said before, I thought we could compete in the league and possibly make the playoffs, so we should be fine.
“Playing good teams early helped a lot. We’re doing a great job rebounding the basketball and we’re shooting like I thought we would, we’re shooting the ball pretty well,” Wilt said, of the positives he has seen so far. But he has a couple areas of concern.
“We’re still turning the ball over a lot and we need to pick up the defensive intensity a little bit more. At times when we get behind and we’re in dire straits, then we really heat up. We’ve got to do that from the opening tip instead of waiting until we get down. We’ve got to play defense the whole game,” continued the coach, in his fifth season.
Anna Raybuck, a 5-foot, 7-inch forward from Mount Carmel, will join the team this semester and Wilt said, “that should help a lot.”
Three Lady Wildcats are averaging double figures in scoring: Sophomore Alicia Ross, of Williamsport, is at 15.6; junior Jamie Steer, of South Williamsport, at 15.3; and sophomore Charese Bova, of Beech Creek, at 14.7. Bova is averaging 17 rebounds per game as Penn College is averaging 47.9 rebounds per game and its opponents 42.
In the NEAC South Division, Lancaster Bible is 2-0 (4-2 overall), St. Elizabeth is 2-0, 3-3; Penn State Abington 1-0, 4-1; Gallaudet 1-1, 2-3; Bryn Athyn 0-1, 1-5; Wilson College 0-2, 1-3; and Penn State Berks 0-3, 0-6.
PENN COLLEGE SCHEDULES/RECORDS
Men’s Basketball
Overall record: 2-7
NEAC record: 1-2
Wednesday, Jan. 7 – at Lancaster Bible College, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 10 – host Gallaudet University, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 11 – at Wilson College, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – host Penn State Abington, 8 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
Overall record: 3-4
NEAC record: 2-1
Wednesday, Jan. 7 -- at Lancaster Bible College, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 10 – host Gallaudet University, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 11 – at Wilson College, noon
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – host Penn State Abington, 6 p.m.
Wrestling
Overall dual record: 1-7
Saturday, Jan. 17 – triangular at Gettysburg College with Gettysburg, 1 p.m., and Southern Virginia University, 3 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 18 – at Millersville University Shorty Hitchcock Open, TBA
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