NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. – In a five-minute overtime thriller in Tuesday's men's basketball contest, New Kensington trailed behind as Dubois gained control of the time and swept the lead away from the host. Jahi Ogbonna (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Allderdice) was New Kensington's only scorer in OT, posting all 14 points. After the tough loss, New Kensington drops to 0-7 in conference play, and Dubois improves to 3-5.
After going on a nine-point run minutes into the first half, New Kensington took command of the game with the help of Jamison Nee (Natrona Heights, Pa./ Highlands), who put up six of those points. With such a lead to keep it in front, New Kensington maintained its position and stayed ahead of Dubois for the duration of the half. Nee and Ogbonna paved the way for New Kensington to outscore Dubois 34-23, with nine and seven points respectively. New Kensington converted 14 of 26 field goals, for a better than half average. Dubois shot in 10 of 22, and New Kensington's three from behind the arc sent them over Dubois' zero attempts.
During the second half, Dubois started to gain on New Kensington. Beginning at 14:42, Dubois turned the contest into a one possession game, 38-40. Ogbonna widened the gap after putting in a layup, but Dubois soon knotted the game, 42-42. New Kensington regained its lead and separated away from Dubois until 3:45 when it tied up the game again at 59-59. Towards the end of the game, Dubois was in front, but with seven seconds to go, Nee sunk a free throw. New Kensington was still down 66-65, but with one more free throw from Nee at five seconds, the contest headed into overtime. Throughout the final quarter, Dubois attempted 17 of 28 field goals, while New Kensington attempted 10 of 27. Russell Gariepy hit double digits with 16 points.
Ogbonna paced New Kensington throughout overtime as its lone scorer. Ogbonna hit 4 of 9 field goals, including a three-pointer. He also went 5 for 5 in free throws. With such an effort from Ogbonna, he was able to pace with Dubois for most of OT. A majority of Dubois' points were from free throws, where it totaled up 12 of 16.
Ogbonna posted a personal season high of 26 points and had four assists. Nee also reached double digits, landing 19 points, along with five assists. Sammy Carey took nine rebounds and one steal.
Gariepy was Dubois' leading scorer, landing 25 points and 10 rebounds. Malik Gordon totaled 17 points, and Cole Morris had five assists.
On Friday, New Kensington will host Penn State Scranton at 8 p.m., while Dubois will return to home to play Penn State Mont Alto on Friday at 8 p.m.
Written by Janet Surma
