Crusaders Drop Opening Game of Season to Penn State Mont Alto

Front Royal, VA- Crusader Basketball kicked of their season this past Saturday, November 16, in a home contest against the Nittany Lions of Penn State Mont Alto.  The team got off to a good start jumping out to a 3-0 lead, after Freshman guard, John Pennefather, hit his first collegiate shot, a three-pointer assisted by Freshman, Joe Dotson.  However, after going up 3-0 the team went 10 minutes without scoring a single point, and by the time they finally scored the game was already out of control, the score being 17-6.  The Nittany Lions continued to outscore the Crusaders throughout the half, and when both teams headed to their locker rooms the scoreboard read 43-11.  The Crusaders scored more in the second half, but they could not slow down Mont Alto's offense, lending to a final score of 97-32.

The main problem for the Crusaders was something that they have struggled with for years, turnovers.  They gave the ball away a total of 37 times, just nine less then the number of field goals attempted, 46.  If they hope to have a successful season the Crusaders desperately need to find a way to stop the turnovers from racking up to such a large number.  One aspect of the game which caused the high number of turnovers was the absents of two experienced players, Senior Jon Messing and Sophomore Owen Kennedy, these two players were both participating in an away rugby game.

The team needs to make improvements fast, with three games next week they will not have time to fix all their mistakes.  They will need to pick and choose what to work on in practice on Monday to set the team up for success in their home match vs. Goucher on Tuesday.