'Wildcat Weekly' Offers Regular Update on Campus Athletics

Vol. 5, No. 18

Results/Record/Upcoming Games (Through Sunday, Dec. 11)

Men's BasketballOverall record: 5-6 PSU-AC record: 5-1

Tuesday, Dec. 6 host Penn State Fayette, W, 86-71 Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Susquehanna University, L, 76-71 Friday, Dec. 9 at Messiah Tournament vs. Cabrini, L, 119-84 (Messiah 67, Hood College 43) Saturday, Dec. 10 at Messiah Tournament vs. Hood College, L, 68-66 (Messiah 85, Cabrini 53, championship) Monday, Dec. 19 at Lycoming College, 7 p.m. Semester break. Next game 3 p.m. Jan. 7 hosting Penn State Beaver.

Women's BasketballOverall record: 5-3 PSU-AC record: 4-0

Monday, Dec. 5 at Marywood University, W, 75-73 (OT) Wednesday, Dec. 7 host Susquehanna University, L, 57-45 Saturday, Dec. 10 at Elmira (N.Y.) College, L, 84-32 Semester break. Next game 6 p.m. Jan. 10 hosting Centenary.

'Cat TalesMen's Basketball The Wildcats opened a nine-point halftime lead against Penn State Fayette and went on to win by 15. Tony Flint (Port Allegany) led the offense with 15 points while Tom Little (Woodland Regional, Conn.) added 13, Steve Young (Dobbins Tech) 11 and Matt Melusky (Minersville) 10. Preston Peterson (Williamsport) scored nine points and had seven rebounds and seven assists. Point guard Matt Michaels (Williamsport) returned after missing three games and scored nine points.

Facing NCAA Division III Susquehanna University on the road, Penn College stayed close throughout, trailing by only three at the half before falling by five. Tony Flint scored 19 points for the Wildcats while Peterson added 15 and eight rebounds, Nick Reynolds (Athens) scored 12 and Michaels 11. Penn College hit on 24 of 27 foul attempts during the game.

There was little Penn College could do against Cabrini, the second Division III team it faced in three days. Cabrini, which shot 64 percent from the field for the game and improved to 5-2, raced to a 20-point halftime lead and pulled away from there in the first round of a tournament at Messiah College. Melusky led the Wildcats with 21 points, Reynolds added 20 and Michaels 10. Messiah beat Hood College, 67-43, to set Saturday's consolation and championship game matchups.

In the consolation game of the Messiah invitational against yet another Division III foe, Penn College forged a five-point, 39-34, halftime lead, but couldn't hold on in the second half in part due to 9 of 20 foul shooting and suffered its third straight loss. In one of its most balanced offensive efforts of the season, Reynolds scored 14 points, Tony Flint 13, Melusky and Craig Flint (Port Allegany) 12 each and Peterson 11. Melusky also grabbed 10 rebounds. Messiah won the championship, 85-53, over Cabrini.

The Wildcats have an eight-day break before traveling to face crosstown rival Lycoming College at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19.

Women's BasketballAgainst Marywood, the first of three NCAA Division III teams it played during the week, Penn College opened a 26-5 lead at the start of the game and led by 11 at halftime. But the host Pacers battled back to tie the game at the end of regulation and sent the contest into overtime. In the OT period, the Lady Wildcats used a 10-8 advantage, including key foul shots by Alyssa Kramer (Northeast Bradford) and Erin Mahoney (Conneaut Valley) to pull out the win. Katlyn Stupar (State College) led the Wildcat offense with 25 points while Brittany Blessard (Renovo) added 16, Amy Fassett (Athens) 11 and Brittney Wertman (Danville) 10. Penn College shot nearly 53 percent from the field (30 of 57) and limited Marywood to just over 30 percent shooting (25 of 82, including one of 16 from 3-point range).

At home with Division III Susquehanna University, the Lady Wildcats fell behind 28-20 at the half and couldn't recover as their five-game win streak was snapped. Stupar scored 16 points, but was the only Penn College player in double digits. Stupar also had seven rebounds.

Closing out a week in which they played all NCAA Division III opponents, the Lady Wildcats, without leading scorer Stupar and Wertman, were soundly beaten at Elmira, N.Y. Blessard was the only Penn College player to score in double figures, with 10. The Wildcats shot just 21 percent from the field for the game. Lindsay Mays (Blossburg) had seven rebounds.

The Penn College women are now idle until Jan. 10 when they host Centenary.