Knights struggle on the boards, fall to Manor College

By Bret Saveleski

Knightly News Reporter

bret.saveleski@mymail.centralpenn.edu

The Central Penn College Knights men’s basketball team fell to the Manor College Blue Jays by a score 98-84 in an ESAC Conference matchup at East Pennsboro Middle School on Monday.

The Blue Jays entered the game winning seven of their last eight, with their lone loss coming at the hands of Central Penn.

Namir Simmons started the scoring with a jump shot for the Blue Jays. Bryce Nwobu followed up this make with a jump shot of his own, and Manor College was up 4-0 after two minutes to play.

But the Knights stood tall in the first half, building a four-point advantage after a Riley Young 3-point basket, leading by a score of 12-8.

Then, at about the halfway mark of the first half, Anthony McClinton grabbed an offensive rebound and made a contested layup. On the next possession, Aaron Harrison did more of the same, grabbing a tough rebound and getting the put-back shot, giving the Knights a five-point lead, 28-23.

While the Knights built as big of a lead as seven points, Manor College closed the gap down the stretch. The Blue Jays dominated in the low post, with Nwobu and Cheikh Diagne combining for 22 points and 15 rebounds in the first half.

The contest continued going back and forth for most of the first half, with teams trading blows, culminating in a 34-34 tie with just over four minutes remaining. Manor then closed out the period on an 11-3 run thanks to a Manny Roach 3-point basket. Manor College led 45-37 going into the locker room.

The Knights were hot coming out of the gate in the second half. They outscored their opponents 8-5 to cut the lead to five after McClinton sunk a 3-pointer about three minutes into the frame.

Unfortunately for Central Penn, that would be as close as they would come to victory on this night. The Knights got themselves in considerable foul trouble early in the second half, with McClinton, Harrison and Young all having at least three fouls early on.

For Manor College, Roach proved to be a problem for the home team in the second half. He put up 17 of his 29 total points in the back half of the competition, which helped him lead all scorers. At one point, Roach appeared to injure his should and went to the bench for four minutes. He came back better than ever, going 7-for-10 from the field in the second half.

At the halfway point in the second half, the Knights continued to hang around, as two Dahsan King free throws brought the Knights to within five, 70-65. But at that point, the Blue Jays made a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach, extending their lead to 14 and never looking back.

For the Knights, one positive takeaway is that they continued moving the ball well and presented a balanced offensive attack. The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game was Young, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds. King led the Knights with 19 points and four steals, while Anthony McClinton added 16 points and six rebounds.

For the Blue Jays, they had four scores in double digits. Roach led the way with 29, while Nwobu had 23 points and 15 rebounds. Diagne put up 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Knights will look to bounce back at home on Wednesday against Christendom, their next-to-last home game of the year. The contest will be held at East Pennsboro Middle School at 8:00 p.m.