Penn State York men's basketball celebrates PSUAC tournament championship

The Penn State York men's basketball team is back at the top of its conference.

The Nittany Lions claimed the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) tournament title on Saturday, defeating Penn State Greater Allegheny 77-76 in overtime at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

PSY's second league championship in three seasons — the Nittany Lions won the title in 2022 but were ineligible last year — secured an automatic berth in the USCAA Division II national championships. Head coach Matt Rotonda's squad earned the tournament's No. 3 seed on Monday afternoon and will face No. 6 Miami Hamilton (Ohio) next Monday, March 11, in Petersburg, Virginia.

The local Lions (27-6) trailed 30-25 at halftime and remained behind for most of the second half, but clawed their way into a tie by the end of regulation. A back-and-forth overtime period came down to the final seconds, and PSY's Anthony Campbell blocked an off-balance attempt by Greater Allegheny's Jordan Poole to set off the celebration.

Senior Deriq Brown, a New Oxford graduate and the PSUAC East Player of the Year, led York with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists in 43 minutes. He was 7-of-7 on free throws, all of which came after halftime. Brown had seven points in the extra period alone, highlighted by a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to put PSY on top by a point entering what proved to be the game's final possession.

Quentin Wells chipped in 18 points and seven rebounds in Penn State York's winning effort. Marquise McClean (York High) added 10 points, while Campbell had eight off the bench. Lui Abdeta grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in just 17 minutes of action.

Devin Green scored 32 points for defending champion Greater Allegheny (22-9), taking on an increased role with PSUAC West Player of the Year Bryce Phillips limited to 19 minutes amid foul trouble. York led 42-35 in rebounds and 10-6 in assists while shooting 38.8% to Greater Allegheny's 35.9%.

Penn State York's triumphant week began with a pair of home victories. The local Lions defeated Penn State Schuylkill, 66-64, on Monday before edging Penn State DuBois 77-69 on Wednesday. DuBois had knocked out PSUAC West champion Mont Alto in the opening round. PSU Greater Allegheny escaped New Kensington 82-78 on Monday and handled Lehigh Valley 93-69 in the semifinals.

After winning the 2022 conference tournament, Penn State York went 25-4 (17-2) during last year's regular season but was forced to forfeit 25 games after the discovery that a player on the team was ineligible. That dropped the Lions' record to 1-28 and knocked them out of the league playoff field; they were eligible to receive an at-large USCAA tourney bid but instead saw their season screech to a halt.

This is the final postseason run for Brown, who has starred at PSY for four seasons and became the PSUAC's all-time leading scorer in December. Most of the Lions' rotation, though, includes sophomores and juniors contributing to a playoff run for the first time.

York's quarterfinal game against Miami Hamilton will be held at Richard Bland College, with the winner advancing to the semifinals at Virginia State University next Tuesday. The USCAA D-II men's championship game will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Virginia State.

The Penn State York women's team was not selected to the USCAA championships after bowing out in the PSUAC semifinals. The Nittany Lions finished 19-11. The three seniors on this year's roster included top scorers Jayla Brown (New Oxford, 16.2 ppg) and Desi Garcia-Hernandez (15.2 ppg), as well as Hannah Knight. Five of seven players who started games for the Lions are eligible to return in 2024-25, including Northeastern's Abigail McAlexander, West York's Jillian Foster, Dover's Michaela Fink and Cedar Crest's Brooke Shutter.

Both PSUAC championship games Saturday went to overtime. Penn State Beaver, which defeated York 65-57 in the women's semifinals, captured the title over Penn State Lehigh Valley with a 75-69 triumph in State College.

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