Jan 8, 2025
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Penn College’s DJ Smith III brings the ball past Penn State Harrisburg defenders during a college men’s basketball game at Bardo Gym on Saturday.
For the first time since the Penn College men’s basketball team became part of the NCAA era, the Wildcats started the year 3-0 in league play entering Saturday. While Saturday saw PSU Harrisburg defeat Penn College, 77-61, and hand the Wildcats their first league loss of the season, that doesn’t undermine what that 3-0 start meant to the program and coach Geoff Hensley.
Penn College defeated PSU Brandywine, 73-55, before moving to 2-0 in the United East with an 85-78 win against Gallaudet in early December.
After a brief stint in the Florida Sunshine Shootout, Penn College beat PSU Abington on the road on Jan. 2, 80-61, for that 3-0 United East start.
It’s always beneficial to open the year with league wins, and for Hensley, he credits the team’s defensive abilities as to a large reason why that happened.
“I always tell our guys it start on the defensive end. I’d say this is probably the best defensive team we’ve have here. With Gav (Barrett) running and Liv (Cross), they can all guard multiple positions. Mike’s (Woolridge) is 6-8 and can guard inside really well for us, Christian’s (Chandler) that good shooter for us,” Hensley said. “Our defense is much improved compared to years past.”
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Penn College’s Livingston Cross works to keep control of the ball during Saturday’s game vs. PSU Harrisburg. The Wildcats started the season 3-0 in league play, their best start in the NCAA era.
Cross is a rebounding machine for the Wildcats and has 170 rebounds this year, 110 of which are off the defensive glass as he does a phenomenal job denying teams second-chance opportunities. He also leads Penn College with 20.2 points per game and is a walking double-double as he has an impressive 13.1 rebounds per game average.
“We had so many guys in the right spot at the right time, Christian being that good shooter out there, Gav being the best playmaker in the conference, Liv’s an inside-outside guy and Mike has definitely stepped up,” Hensley said. “He’s been scoring the ball a lot more for us. We’re playing great basketball, we just gotta figure out how to win close games.”
Barrett is second on the team with 14.2 points per game and DJ Smith III averages 9.3 per game. Ron Flood Jr. has an 8.5 per-game average as well as the team has plenty of playmakers who can step up.
Both Barrett and Cross are seniors this year and the two have made a huge impact on the team. Those two, in addition to Flood Jr., were all Union High School standouts in New Jersey and took those talents to Williamsport for the Wildcats. They made an impact ever since arriving on campus.
“I don’t have words to correctly describe their impact on the program. They are two outstanding young men who will never be able to replace from a character standpoint, player standpoint,” Hensley said of Barrett and Cross. “They gave their blood, sweat and tears to this program for the last three to four years. I gave Gavin the keys to drive this team his freshman year and we haven’t looked back since, we’ve gotten better and better each year. Liv came in the following year and gave us a huge lift.”
“Ever since they joined us, we’ve been such a more competitive program and on any given night, we can beat anybody because of those two,” Hensley added.
Playing tough teams helps any team succeed and know where they stand. Penn College scheduled some tough non-conference opponents this year including Muhlenberg and Lebanon Valley. Both are talented programs. Penn College lost both games, falling to Muhlenberg by just six points (89-83) and to Lebanon Valley by five (79-74). But those tight games against very good schools is only beneficial for Hensley and his team.
“We had a really tough non-conference schedule this year. We battled Muhlenberg, Lebanon Valley College, they’re traditional really good Division 3 programs,” Hensley said. “Playing those types of teams got us ready for United East action.”
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