The PSAC West is off to a good start this season. The nine teams have a combined 12-5 record after the first week of play.
Seven teams – Clarion, Cal U, IUP, Seton Hill, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and Pitt-Johnstown – won their home openers this past week.
Pitt-Johnstown won their home opener on Monday, 88-51 over Penn State-Altoona. Pitt-Johnstown had five players, including two bench players, in double figures. Bill Luther led the way with 17 points and 4 rebounds. They later beat PSU-New Kensington Thursday, 93-47 on the road. Andrew Cressler scored 17 points and had 7 rebounds in that win. The Mountain Cats are 2-0.
Edinboro took down Theil College, 66-48 for their first win of the season Monday, as well. Bryan Theriot had 12 points and 8 rebounds. The Fighting Scots won again on Friday with a 98-65 victory over PSU-Greater Allegheny at home. Theriot had 19 points and 10 boards in the victory. The Scots are 2-0.
On Tuesday, Seton Hill picked up a 71-52 victory over LeMoyne. Kameron Taylor led the way with 17 points and 8 boards. The
Griffins are 2-0.
Cal U also picked up their first home win Tuesday with an 83-49 wallop of PSU-Greater Allegheny. Chris Williams led the Vulcans with 17 points. The Vulcans are 1-2.
IUP knocked of West Virginia Wesleyan on the road Wednesday before picking up their first home win of the season over the weekend. The Hawks beat WV Wesleyan, 79-62 and then took down Notre Dame (OH) on Saturday, 87-70. Mathis Keita scored 30 points and grabbed 6 boards in the win over WV Wesleyan and then scored 25 against ND. Marcel Souberbielle also added 21 points and 7 rebounds in the home win Saturday. The Crimson Hawsk are 2-0.
Slippery Rockwon its home opener, 91-77 over Ohio Valley Thursday. Mauric Lewis-Briggs scored 21 points and hauled in 14 rebounds for the double-double. Tabari Perry also added 19 points. The Rock are 2-1.
Clarion picked up a resounding home opener victory, beating Penn State-Dubois, 121-64. The Golden Eagles had six players in double figures and were led by DeMarius Miller with 22 points. Mike Kromka had 17 points and 20 rebounds, of which 13 were defensive. Corey Bellovich also posted a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds. The Golden Eagles are 1-0.
Mercyhurst had a rough week, going 0-2 to start the season. They first lost to Shepherd, 72-61 Friday night then 68-67 in OT to Alderson-Broaddus Saturday. Jonathan Ouegnin led the way with 17 points and five rebounds. Greg Williams provided 17 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for the Lakers in the loss against Shepherd. In Saturday’s overtime thriller, Callon Dailey had 17 points. The Lakers lost on back-to-back free throws to the Battlers with 0:01 left.
Individually, Mathis (IUP) leads the PSAC with 27.5 points per game early on in the season. Miller (Clarion) joins him in the 20.0-point-per-game club with 22.0 per game. After racking up 20 rebounds in their only game, Kromka (Clarion) leads the league in that category. Kromka also has four blocks. Ian Vescovi (Pitt-Johnstown) is next in blocks, averaging 3.5 per game. Malachi Leonard (Seton Hill) is also averaging double digits with 10.0 rebounds per game. David Windsor (Seton Hill) leads the league in assists with 6.0 per game and is second in assist/turnover ratio with a ratio of 12.0. Jeremy Schmader (Clarion) leads the league in steals, with 5.0 per game. Dailey (Mercyhurst) is on his tail, averaging 4.0 swipes per game.
Photo Credit: IUP Athletics
