Charleston Classic Recap
The Penn State men’s basketball team (4-1) finished the Gildan Charleston Classic on Sunday with a 2-1 record. The Nittany Lions showed great promise with wins over USC and Cornell. Senior guard D.J. Newbill lead the way throughout setting a tournament scoring record.
Game 1: Penn State against the Charlotte 49ers was easily the most exciting game of the tournament as it went to double overtime. Although the Nittany Lions did not come out on top, they showed a lot of resilience as they faced a huge deficit late in the second half of the game. With 11:46 left in regulation the Nittany Lions found themselves down 63-46. Penn State then proceeded to go on a 37-20 run that got them within three. Senior guard John Johnson tied the game with a clutch three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left in the game to send it into the first overtime. That was Johnson’s only basket of the game, and Penn State was lead by senior D.J. Newbill in scoring with a season-high 35 and was one of four Nittany Lions in double figures. True freshman Shep Garner had his worst night on the young season, but he found another way to reach double-figures as he has done in every game thus far, going 7-7 from the charity stripe. In the first extra frame, 49ers sophomore guard Braxton Ogbueze got them going. He scored 10 of his career-high 26 points in the overtimes. Both teams still couldn’t break even in the first overtime, scoring even points each, and the second overtime was up next to determine a winner. Penn State scored only seven points again in the second overtime, while the 49ers scored 16 and went on to win the game in 2OT, 106-97.
Game 2: The Nittany Lions took on the Cornell Big Red in game two of the Charleston Classic. Once again senior guard D.J. Newbill lead the team in scoring with 26, going 4-5 from deep in the game and scored the game-winning layup at the buzzer. True freshman Shep Garner added 10 points in only 19 minutes of action. John Johnson added 17 points off the bench. Johnson hit a high-arching three pointer with 4.5 seconds left to pull Penn State within 1, 71-70. These three guards were the only Penn State players to score in double-figures.
Game 3: In fifth-place game Sunday, Penn State found themselves against the USC Trojans. Newbill led the way again, scoring 16 of his game-high 22 in the second half of Penn State’s 63-61 win over USC.
"I gave him the ball," head coach Pat Chambers said. "I said, `If we're going down, we're going down with you."
Newbill led the way as expected being the captain of the team. This was the third consecutive nail-biting game for Penn State in the Gildan Charleston Classic. True freshman Garner added 13 points, as he and Newbill were the only Nittany Lions in double-figures. Garner and Newbill are the only Nittany Lions to score double-figures in every game this season. That much is expected from the senior Newbill but from the freshman, it comes as a shock. Garner is doing it efficiently as well; he is shooting about 49% percent from two-point range and 41% from distance.
The Penn State men’s basketball team is off to a great start this season. They showed toughness and competitive spirit with their play in the Gildan Charleston Classic with the comeback against Charlotte, although they still lost and then to come back and win the next night over Cornell. D.J. Newbill scored 83 points in the tournament, breaking St. Joseph’s Carl Jones’ record of 78 set in 2011. Shep Garner is continuing his mature play and learning the game on the fly as he starts at the point guard position. Senior guard John Johnson is providing a scoring punch off the bench; along with sophomore guard Geno Thorpe as they bring toughness to the court. Senior Ross Travis is rebounding at a high level and junior Brandon Taylor is providing toughness inside along with his three-point ability. The team looks good heading into their next game at home on Tuesday against the Akron Zips.
Christopher Gamble is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email cgamble531@gmail.com.
