Two Pennsylvania College of Technology basketball players joined the ranks of the program elite this past week.
Men’s Basketball
In UE road play on Thursday, facing a foe that held a 12-4 advantage in the teams’ series, the Wildcats used a big second half to turn back Penn State Abington 80-61. Leading the winners with double-doubles were Livingston Cross of Union, New Jersey, with 30 points and 11 rebounds — giving him 500 rebounds for his career — and Gavin Barrett of Roselle, New Jersey, with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Penn College’s 3-0 UE start is its best in conference play during the NCAA era (since 2014).
In reaching the career 500-rebound mark, Cross joins Thomas Ross (710 rebounds), who graduated in 2016, Ben Sosa (585), who graduated in 2019, and Jesse White (561), who graduated in 2021, in that select club. He achieved it in less than three full seasons as he played in just 16 games as a sophomore and a full 26 a year ago.
Hosting UE defending champion Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, Harrisburg rode a 14-point second-half scoring advantage to a 77-61 win that snapped the Wildcats’ three-game UE win streak.
Ronn Flood Jr. of Union, New Jersey, led the Penn College offense with 18 points and Cross notched his 11th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. In addition to 512 career rebounds, Cross now has 954 career points.
UE standings through Sunday: Cairn University 4-0, Penn College 3-1, Bryn Athyn 3-1, Lancaster Bible College 3-1, Penn State Harrisburg 3-1, Wilson College 3-1, Keystone College 2-1, St. Mary’s (Md.) 3-2, Notre Dame (Md.) University 2-2, Penn State Berks 2-2, Rosemont College 1-3, Valley Forge 1-3, St. Elizabeth University 1-3, Gallaudet University 1-3, Penn State Abington 0-4, Penn State Brandywine 0-4.
Schedule/Record/Series History
Overall: 5-8
UE: 3-1
Thursday, Jan. 2 — at Penn State Abington (UE), W, 80-61
Saturday, Jan. 4 — host Penn State Harrisburg (UE), L, 77-61
Wednesday, Jan. 8 — at Keystone College (UE), 7:30 p.m. (first-time opponent)
Saturday, Jan. 11 — host St. Elizabeth University (UE), 3 p.m. (St. Elizabeth leads 3-1)
Tuesday, Jan. 14 — at Rosemont College (UE), 7 p.m. (Rosemont leads 1-0)
Women’s Basketball
After a 17-day semester and holiday layoff, Penn College saw its first five-game win streak since the 2009-10 season ended on Saturday with a 53-50 home loss to defending UE champ Penn State Harrisburg in the closest game in nine meetings between the two teams since 2020. The contest was tied at 50 with 30 seconds remaining.
Rachel Teats of Middleburg led the Wildcats’ offense with 23 points as she surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark and now has 1,002. Also, the Penn College defense limited Harrisburg’s Jordan Carpenter to a season-low 13 points, seven below her average. Carpenter was named the Division III National Player of the Week by the US Basketball Writers Association on Dec. 17.
Teats joins Alicia Ross (1,515 points), who graduated in 2017, and sisters Jamie Steer (1,422), who graduated in 2016, and Kierstin Steer (1,246), who graduated in 2013, in the elite circle.
The last Penn College win over Penn State Harrisburg came on March 4, 2006, 69-67 in the Penn State University Athletic Conference championship game at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center. Earlier that same season, the Wildcats topped PS Harrisburg twice by scores of 88-74 and 81-66.
UE standings through Sunday: Bryn Athyn 4-0, Penn State Abington 4-0, St. Mary’s (Md.) 4-0, Penn College 3-1, St. Elizabeth University 3-1, Penn State Harrisburg 3-2, Notre Dame (Md.) University 3-2, Valley Forge 2-2, Wilson College 2-2, Lancaster Bible College 2-2, Gallaudet University 2-2, Keystone College 2-2, Cedar Crest College 2-3, Penn State Berks 0-4, Penn State Brandywine 0-4, Rosemont College 0-4, Cairn University 0-5.
Schedule/Record/Series History
Overall: 6-7
UE: 3-1
Saturday, Jan. 4 — host Penn State Harrisburg (UE), L, 53-50
Monday, Jan. 6 — host Penn State Berks (UE), 2 p.m. (Penn College leads 10-8)
Wednesday, Jan. 8 — at Keystone College (UE), 5 p.m. (series tied 1-1)
Saturday, Jan. 11 — host Penn State Brandywine (UE), 1 p.m. (first-time opponent)
Tuesday, Jan. 14 — at Rosemont College (UE), 5 p.m. (first-time opponent)
Wrestling
Schedule/Record
Overall record: 1-0
AMCC record: 1-0
Saturday, Jan. 11 — Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Duals at Pitt-Bradford, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 18 — NY-PA Challenge at New York University with NYU, Hunter College and Merchant Marine, 6 p.m.
For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.
For more about the United East, visit the conference website.