Tag: Basketball

Men’s Basketball Outhustled by Penn State York

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By: Erin Dolan, Lion’s Eye Writer, evd5158@psu.edu

The Penn State York men’s basketball team defeated Penn State Brandywine 91-69 on January 30.

From tip-off, Penn State York’s momentum and speed outhustled was evident.  In the first half, Brandywine shot 20 percent from the field verses York’s 62.1 percent.  Missing shots and being outrebounded impacted the team mentally.

Omar Richburg, Brandywine men’s basketball coach, explained what went wrong.

“It appeared there was a lack of energy and passion,” Richburg said.

In addition, within the first ten minutes of the game, both teams were in foul trouble. York racked up 12 fouls, but shot 11 for 13 from the line, while Brandywine racked up ten fouls and went 9 for 17 from the line.

By the end of the first half, York led 53-24. In the second half, Terrance Quinn, Brandywine’s guard, came out strong shooting two 3-pointers. The team’s momentum picked up, but could not be sustained. With five minutes remaining, York had its largest lead — 32 points.

York’s freshman duo of Trent Thomas and Mike Coleman led their team in points; Thomas contributed 28.

Fan Margo Gargus claimed, “Thomas was unstoppable.”

Brandywine’s forward, Marcus Turner, lead the team with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

“Turner played phenomenally,” Richburg said.  “The game is his first game back from an ankle injury, so he is trying to get his flow and repetition back.”

Turner’s high energy assisted in closing York’s lead. Brandywine forward Cyrie Spencer grabbed eight rebounds for Brandywine.

Brandywine’s victory against Penn State Hazleton the night before, 73-59, couldn’t offer any added momentum in this game.

“Back-to-back games were challenging because the team didn’t get home until late last night after beating Penn State Hazleton,” Richburg said. “But it’s not an excuse.”

With a 3-6 conference record, the team hopes to make a run for the playoffs as they approach their final seven games.

Richburg talked about his strategy going into a game against Penn State Mont Alto.

“We will go back to the drawing board and take a few days off to focus on the game ahead,” Richburg said.

Winning four games this season, Penn State Brandywine men’s basketball players look to improve their record by playing with more passion.

From Blocking Shots to Saving Lives

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By: Symantha Marrero, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, sjm5946@psu.edu

It’s almost every kid’s dream to become a college athlete or a police officer. One woman in particular has a shot to fulfill both of those dreams.

Melanie Kempf, a 20-­year-­old student at Penn State Brandywine, is your average girl. She loves to listen to music, spend time with friends and family and to be active. There’s a catch—she’s a 6-­foot center who’s on the path to becoming a state trooper.

A college athlete typically plays for the duration of their time at school, which four years. Kempf’s time on the basketball court, as well as in the classroom, has been cut two years short because of her upcoming task.

The process to become a Pennsylvania State Trooper is rigorous and exhausting. Not only do physical demands need to be met, but also written exams and polygraphs are expected to be passed as well. Once these expectations are completed, the final stage is the academy, where cadets partake in hardcore physical training, in addition to police training for six months.

The physical training includes an intense amount of running, pull­-ups, push-­ups, lifting and even swimming. The police training, which will likely be Kempf’s favorite part of the time spent at the academy, includes how and when to use a firearm, how to drive a police vehicle properly, how to “cuff” people, as well as self­defense.

Perhaps the best part of the entire process is graduating from the academy and starting the first “assignment,” wherever that may be. Finishing this semester at Brandywine brings Kempf that much closer to her goal.

Kempf reminisced about leaving the game of basketball behind.

“Since I was able to walk, I always had a basketball with me,” Kempf said. “Now, it’s like I’m losing a piece of me that had always been there.”

Kempf starts for the Lady Lions and averages just under 18 minutes a game. She’s a huge factor in the team’s success. Basketball isn’t her only talent, however. She also played on the women’s volleyball and soccer teams at Brandywine.

“Mel has the biggest heart I know,” former teammate Colleen Kennedy said. “She gives her all at anything she sets her mind to. I think she’s going to make the perfect police officer.”

Ride-alongs are what sealed the deal for Kempf. After researching and being inspired by family members in the force, Kempf began going on ride-alongs and quickly learned just what it takes to be a police officer.

“Going on these ride-alongs have assured me this is what I’m supposed to do,” Kempf said contently.

From gruesome scenes of suicides to speeding over 85 MPH to chase down a wanted man, Kempf wants it all.

“This is what I’m supposed to do, protect and serve my community, family, friends, everyone,” Kempf said. “I see myself being a police officer within the next two years, ideally a PA state trooper. As long as I’m a police officer, I’ll be happy!”

Until then, she’ll settle with making baskets on the hardwood.

2014-15 Women’s Basketball

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By: Jake Gibbons, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, jmg6173@psu.edu

The women’s basketball team, it seemed, were all but unstoppable this season, suffering a mere eight losses overall out of 26 total games. However, their impressive performance this season was halted abruptly in the PSUAC semifinals this past weekend.
The season had been going extremely well for the team before this past Sunday, with the team holding both an 18-7 win/loss record and the title of regular season champions after a victory over Penn State Schuylkill. With, that, the team garnered for themselves a healthy rest period and the home court advantage, at least until the PSUAC championship.
Come this past Sunday, however, Penn State Hazleton was able to eke out a victory in the final few minutes of the PSUAC semifinals.
As the opening neared, suspense began to build in the air around the court in what was maybe the largest crowd at a home game this season began to roll in. With the anticipation finally at a boiling point, the semifinal round began. The game’s first half saw the most intense performance we’ve yet seen this season from both sides, neither of which being able to gain a lead of more than a few points or so for the first 20 minutes of play. A strong showing from the offense coupled with two free throws and multiple back to back goals gave Brandywine a 16 point lead over Hazleton by the end of the first half.
As the game wore into the second half, Brandywine was pushing hard, and at one point had nearly 20 points over their opponents. The momentum was strong, but it eventually began to dwindle as the second half wore on, Hazleton slowly beginning to rally and chip away at our lead. Hazelton was trailing by 17 points in the final fifteen minutes of the game, but by the three minute mark they’d closed the gap considerably, eventually gaining their first lead since the first fifteen minutes of the game, now with just a minute left in play. After two pairs of free throws from Hazleton and a few missed attempts by Brandywine, the final score stood at 65-59. With that, Hazleton moved on to the championship game, leaving Brandywine to close the season out with a respectable record.
This season may not have ended well, and come next year we will lose our pair of extremely talented seniors, but, if anything, this season did prove what the team is capable of. Next season is a mystery to us now, but if this one showed us anything, we may just be able to go all the way.

New Face of Brandywine Basketball

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New faces are constantly popping up all over campus this year. Incoming freshman, transfer students, international students, and now, a new head basketball coach.

Coach Richburg has been coaching for a long time now, both at the collegiate and high school level. The new head coach is stepping into unfamiliar shoes, considering the fact that it is his first head coaching job at the collegiate level.

Luckily, Coach Richburg had the honor to be an assistant to William “Speedy” Morris. Speedy Morris is a retired college basketball coach who led the La Salle University Explorers to four NCAA tournament appearances and has the most wins in school history with 238. Currently Morris coaches’ high school basketball for St. Joe’s PREP, where he earned the most wins in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

“Speedy was my mentor and he taught me how to manage a team,” Richburg said.

Along with Coach Richburg, the basketball players are very excited to start the season. They seem to have total confidence in the new coach.

“I think Coach understands the game,” Chris Lyons, a basketball recruit for Penn State Brandywine, said. “He probably has a couple tricks up his sleeve from coaching with Speedy at St. Joe’s PREP.”

The men’s Brandywine team will have their first home basketball game on November 23 at 3:00PM against Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Richburg is making sure his team is in peak condition for the season to start by having the team run on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week.

Besides being assistant coach at a great school for basketball, St. Joe’s PREP, Coach Richburg was the assistant coach at Rosemont College. Overall, Coach Richburg seems very suitable for the job and is confident that his team will do big things this year, as long as they come to compete every game.

Lion’s Eye Staff Writer

Terracne Quinn, tpq5004@psu.edu