| CCAC Basketball Champions! |
Penn State Abington defends PSU-AC (formerly CCAC) Men's Basketball Championship
Penn State Abington successfully defended its PSU-AC Men's Basketball Championship by defeating Western Conference Champions, Penn State McKeesport 80-61 in the Bryce Jordan Center at University Park on Friday, March 4, 2005. Abington won its 2nd conference championship in a row and third in six years under Coach Maurice Williams and finished the season with a 21-2 record (46-3 over past two years). This was Abington's 1st back to back Championships since the 1970's.
Abington trailed McKeesport by seven points early in the first half while playing without junior co-captain and starting point guard Isaiah Thomas (Frankford HS) who suffered a broken left foot in Thursday's 81-62 semi-final victory over Penn State Schuylkill. Coach Williams with assistant coaches Ameen Akbar and Michael Peters composed the Abington squad who proceeded to take control of a highly contested championship game.
Led by senior forward and co-captain, Jim Sheridan's (LaSalle HS & Abington's first four-year athlete) 21 points and 13 rebounds, Abington changed defenses and strategies to effectively negate McKeesport's high scoring offense and size advantage. Defensively, Abington allowed only 52.1 ppg during the regular season.
Offensively, Abington continued to share the ball throughout the post season. Abington had four players score over 15 points including Sheridan's 21 points, junior forward Marvin Dutton (Frankford HS) 17 points, freshmen point guard Paul Vitacolonna (Notre Dame HS NJ) 16 points and center Scott Brandt (Council Rock South) 15 points. While pressuring McKeesport defensively, Coach Williams and his staff effectively utilized eight Abington players throughout the game. Significant contributions from junior center Edy Aurelio (Frankford HS), sophomore guard Chris Caine (Cardinal Dougherty), freshman forward Ross Felicetti (Central Bucks East) and senior guard Jacque Hall (West Catholic) allowed Abington to control the game despite playing on one day's rest. The eight Abington players continued to thwart McKeesport's comeback attempts by playing team defense and controlling the tempo of the game. As McKeesport pressed defensively, the composed Abington team continued to attack the defense, find the open man, make their shots and free throws down the end.
Many thanks to the Abington cheerleaders for their support throughout the season and at the Bryce Jordan Center, along with the many Abington students, parents and University Park alumni who cheered Abington to tenth PSU-AC Championship.