Alle-Kiski Society members, left to right, Tim Oberlin, Barb Arnold, and Vera Greenwald sit with Chancellor Kevin Snider at last year’s alumni basketball social at Penn State New Kensington.
Alle-Kiski Society invites
local Penn Staters to campus basketball game
5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 7, Athletics Center
New Kensington Lions vs. Penn State DuBois
Free pizza and admission
UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- The Alle-Kiski Society of the Penn State Alumni Association, in conjunction with a Penn State New Kensington men's basketball home game, is sponsoring a "Pizza Social" on Saturday, Feb. 7, following the 5 p.m. conference contest.
Penn State alumni and friends are invited to join fellow Penn Staters to cheer on the New Kensington Lions and enjoy free pizza during post-game festivities in the lobby of the center. Second-year coach Art McCray’s team takes on Penn State DuBois at 5 p.m. in a Penn State University Athletic Conference match in the campus' Athletics Center. Postgame festivities will continue at an off-campus venue that will be determined. The team seeks to avenge a 93-76 loss at DuBois on Jan. 13.
The New Kensington Lions are coming off a pair of wins last weekend, during a two-game road trip to eastern Pennsylvania. New Kensington defeated Penn State Abington, 80-75, and Penn State Schuylkill, 67-64, to even their PSUAC record at 4-4 and move into eighth place in the conference standings. The top eight teams earn berths in the playoffs.
McCray’s Lions are led in scoring by freshman guard Dorian Broadwater (Steel Valley H.S.) with 18.2 points per game. Broadwater is 10th in the conference in scoring and leads the conference in free throw percentage, .877. Sophomore guard Jordan Williams, (East Allegheny), 13.9, and senior forward Shaquille Hager (Oliver), 13.6, also are scoring in double figures.
Hager, an administration of justice major, tops the squad in rebounding with 9.4 rebounds per game, good for fourth in the PSUAC. He is shooting 52 percent from the floor. Freshman center Ahman Muhammad (Hinesville, Georgia), is second on the team with 6.8 caroms a contest and 10th in the league.
Junior guard Lou Payne (Prince Georges, Maryland) is third in the conference assists with 5.5 per game, and third in free throw percentage at .824. Williams is second in steals with two a game.
McCray, a former student-athlete at the campus, is looking to return New Kensington to the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Seven years ago, coach Ryan Shank’s team, 22-6 and ranked sixth nationally in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, suffered its only conference loss of the season in the championship game, falling to Penn State Abington.
Winning conference championships is a tradition at Penn State New Kensington. Men’s basketball has won 14 titles, the most of any PSUAC teams. The last conference championship was in 2001, under head coach Joe Molito.
Alle-Kiski Society
Based at Penn State New Kensington, the Alle-Kiski Society is the local chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association and represents the 7,000 Penn State alumni living in the Alle-Kiski Valley. The society engages in campus and community projects throughout the year, including social and fundraising events that benefit the society's endowed scholarship. In addition, the alumni group co-sponsors campus events, including the semiannual Alumni Breakfast socials in the spring and fall for local alumni. The next breakfast is set for 8 a.m., Thursday, May 21, at Siemens in the Westmoreland Research and Development Park on State Rt. 780. For more information, contact Bill Woodard, 724-334-6049 or uxw1@psu.edu
The spring fundraiser is the annual Bowlathon, and it is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 22, at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell. This is a family fun event for students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Penn State. The entry fee is $20 and includes three games and shoe rental. Four- or five-person teams may sign up, or individuals may sign up and be assigned to a short-handed team. The bowlathon is the alumni group's major fundraiser in the spring, and the proceeds support the society’s endowed scholarship and campus projects. Lane sponsorships are available for $50 and $100. For more information, contact John Spadaro at 734-337-8536.
New and recent Penn State graduates are encouraged to attend the monthly board meetings held at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of the month. The next meeting is Monday, Feb. 16, at The Elks Lodge in Tarentum.
For more information or to RSVP for the alumni basketball social, contact Woodard at uxw1@psu.edu
For more on the Alle-Kiski Society, visit http://www.nk.psu.edu/Alumni/alumorg.htm
For more on the basketball team, visit, http://psnkathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index