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Knights can’t keep up with Christendom in season finale

By Bret Saveleski

Knightly News Reporter

bret.saveleski@mymail.centralpenn.edu

The Central Penn Knights lost to the Christendom Crusaders on Thursday night in an ESAC conference tilt at East Pennsboro Middle School by a score of 83-68. The game was the final contest of the season for the Knights.

Central Penn entered Thursday’s contest on the heels of a high-scoring win at conference rival Bucks County Community College, a game that saw the Knights play strong in the second half to pull away. Coming into this game, players and coaches hoped that this positive momentum would carry over into the final game of the season.

This game, which was rescheduled twice due to weather, was initially to be played back on Feb. 5.

Christendom jumped out to a six-point lead after two minutes of play. John Fowler started particularly hot with five points early, including a 3-pointer to put the Crusaders ahead 7-1 in the opening minutes of play.

The Knights, though, quickly answered, as Aaron Harrison hit a jumper and Darius Wallace sunk a contested 3-pointer to bring the Knights within one, 7-6.

At about the halfway point in the first half, Christendom capped off an 11-0 run with a Fowler layup. Later, finding themselves down 22-8, the Knights got on a run of their own. After an Anthony McClinton layup and a Harrison 3-pointer, the Knights were able to claw back to within eight, down 24-16.

But the Knights struggled from beyond the 3-point line in the first half, taking several highly contested shots that were off the mark. The Knights also struggled on the glass in the first, leading to many one-shot possessions.

Christendom caught fire over the final seven minutes of the first half, going on a 17-4 run capped off by a David Echaniz 3-pointer from the corner, putting the Crusaders up 41-20.

Central Penn shot just 25% from the floor and only 13% from behind the arc in the first half, also being outrebounded 25-15, as the home team went into the locker room down 45-22.

While the Knights trailed by a significant margin going into the second half, they did not give up. In the first five minutes of the second, the Knights got on a run, highlighted by a Dahsan King 3-pointer, followed by a McClinton jumper. This run at the beginning of the frame pulled the Knights to within 17.

At about the halfway point in the second half, Wallace hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Knights new life, closing the gap to 12 with a 59-47 score. But that would be as close as the Knights would come to victory in this contest.

Christendom’s Daniel Schultz proved to be too much in the middle for the Knights. Schultz pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while also adding 18 points in the contest. Two of those points came with 7:33 left in the game, where Schultz hit a contested layup to pull the momentum back to the Crusaders. After the layup, Christendom extended their lead to 20, 67-47.

As a bright spot for the Knights, McClinton really showed his heart in the second half, hitting a 3-pointer, and, after a Garland Amaker steal, hit a layup in the game’s final minutes. McClinton, playing in his final game for Central Penn, tied for the team lead in points for the Knights.

As the final buzzer sounded on the Knights season, they found themselves on the wrong side of the score board, 83-68.

The Weis Knightly News Co-Players of the Game were McClinton and King. McClinton had 19 points and seven rebounds, while King added 19 points and eight boards.

Schultz was the story for the Crusaders in this contest. He ended with 18 points on an efficient 7-13 shooting with 13 rebounds. Fowler also proved to be a difference maker with 20 points, while Echaniz had 15 points and nine rebounds in only 19 minutes.

The Knights finished the 2024-25 season with a 6-17 record, though they did have a 3-5 mark against ESAC foes. Christendom finished their season with a 9-14 record.

While the Knights season did not go as planned, they have an extremely solid lineup moving into next season. Losing only McClinton, all other Knights all eligible to return. With a core of Wallace and King, as well as veteran Khalil Dukes, the Knights’ future looks bright.