Knights keep pace with Cheyney in the first half, run cold in the second in loss on opening day
By Paul Miller
Knightly News Co-Adviser
Photos by Josalyn Cook
Knightly News Photographer
The Central Penn College Knights fell in their home opener on Tuesday to Cheyney University by a score of 93-67 in a contest held at East Pennsboro Middle School in Enola.
This game, much like the women’s game held earlier that evening, was part of an “Orange Out” campaign from the Central Penn athletics department. The game represented the first opening day for the basketball program that took place at home in recent memory.
The Knights have a new leader this season, as Assistant Athletic Director Kenton Alston has taken on the head coaching duties. The team returns several players, both from last season and from the previous seasons, in hopes of having the opportunity to mesh well early in the season.
The pace during the first quarter was eye-popping, with both teams consistently attacking the basket and finding open players in transition. A 3-pointer from Connor Jenkins helped start the scoring for the Knights, and baskets from Cameron Wilson and Bersy Moundzieho allowed the Knights to take an early 11-10 lead.
With the Knights clinging to a one-point lead later in the first half, Cheyney responded. After an Eaton Smith 3-pointer and a Dajer Muldrow jumper, Cheyney led by a score of 25-19 with about eight minutes to play in the half.
Later in the quarter, Cheyney put together back-to-back solid offensive possessions, both being capped off with a Joshua Blackmon 3-pointer, extending Cheyney’s lead to 33-24. Blackmon made another contested basket later in the half to further distance Cheyney from Central Penn, as the Knights trailed 44-29 at the break.
The Knights came out firing in the second half, with Riley Young hitting two contested 3-point buckets, energizing the crowd with one of the largest pops in recent memory, bringing Central Penn to within nine. Then, Dahsan King hit an acrobatic lay-up to get the Knights back to only a seven-point deficit, 48-41.
But that was the closest the Knights would get on opening night. Cheyney would go on a 12-3 run over the next four minutes of play, thanks to baskets from D’Angelo Lake and Amare Curtis, widening their lead to 60-44.
The Knights did not give up in the second half, though, as Wilson hit a lay-up under the basket and Jenkins hit another 3-pointer, inching Central Penn back into the game with a 60-49 score.
But again, as Cheyney had done all night, they answered the Central Penn run with one of their own, as Naadhir Wood hit a 3-pointer and Curtis hit two free throws and another bucket to push the deficit back to more than 20 with seven minutes left.
Cheyney continued to pour it on down the stretch, leading the Knights in almost all offensive categories during the contest. Even with an impressive debut for Central Penn College, they could not match Cheyney, falling by a score of 93-67.
For Cheyney, they had five players scoring in double figures. Blackmon led the way with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Wood had 13 points in only 14 minutes, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor. Lake added 12 points and five rebounds.
The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game for Central Penn was King, scoring 18 points and adding four assists. Jenkins added 11 points and four rebounds, while Young tallied 10 points in the losing effort.
There were certainly plenty of positives to take away for the Knights, even in a losing effort. The team benefited from Wilson and Donnell Loud’s size in the paint, something that haunted Central Penn last season.
It will be a tough road for the Knights in the short term, facing NCAA Division I Morgan State University on Thursday. In total, the Knights will be on the road for six contests against NCAA teams over the next three weeks, though they do return home as part of a doubleheader on Nov. 13 versus Penn State Schuylkill at East Pennsboro Middle School.
The Knightly News Media Club will be broadcasting all of the Central Penn College men’s and women’s home games during the 2025-26 season. You can tune in at https://www.youtube.com/@KnightlyNewsCPC.
On this broadcast, Dr. Paul Miller and Dalton Koller were on the call, with Noah Lopez producing the show.
