Waples Scoring Record
69
Lancaster Bible LBCM 10-12, 10-7 NEAC
89
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 5-16, 5-12 NEAC
Lancaster Bible LBCM
10-12, 10-7 NEAC
69
Final
89
Penn State Berks PSBM
5-16, 5-12 NEAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Lancaster Bible LBCM 33 36 69
Penn State Berks PSBM 50 39 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Waples sets career scoring mark for Berks in win over Chargers

READING, PA - Baba Waples tallied 37 points on his way to becoming the all-time scoring leader as the Penn State Berks men's basketball team gave its best all around effort of the season in an 89-69 victory over visiting Lancaster Bible College in Saturday afternoon's North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) South Division contest at Beaver Community Center.

Waples entered the game needing 26 points to surpass Tom Smith's record of 1,337 points. The senior guard recorded the first 10 points of the game for the Nittany Lions (5-16, 5-12 NEAC) and had 18 points heading into the halftime break. Out of the intermission, Waples hit a pair of jumper's early in the half sit just four points shy of breaking the record. He then made a floater in the paint and on the following possession broke the scoring record with a jumper at the 14:34 mark in the second half. That gave him the magic number of 26 that he needed, but he was not done as he went on to finish with 37 points for the game. He now sits at 1,349 points and will look pad that number with the three remaining games left in the regular season.

Waples was playing determined and at an intense level on his chase of the scoring record, but the high energy was also being displayed by the rest of his teammates. Darren Major finished the game with 24 points, while Nelson Hine chipped in 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Joel Ellison matched Hine with a team-high of eight boards, while Major had seven. Matt Thompson and Eric Stepnowski both grabbed six rebounds, as the Nittany Lions won the battle of the boards by a 42-39 margin.

The Nittany Lions were finally able to break a six game skid that saw them fall by three or less points five times. The 20 point win was easily the largest margin of victory this season and matches the largest margin since a 112-92 win over Penn State Abington on February 8, 2012.

The Chargers cut the score to 18-13 with 13:19 left in the opening half before the Nittany Lions extended its lead to 17 points (32-15) with a little over 10 minutes left. They led by as much as 20 points in the opening period before taking a 50-33 lead into the break. LBC cut its deficit down to 15 points a couple of times out of the break, but Berks was able to build its largest lead of the game at 29 points (83-54) with 6:34 remaining.

Waples knocked down a team-high four 3-pointers, followed by Major (3) and Hine (2). Waples also led the team with 7-for-9 shooting at the foul line and the whole Nittany Lion squad combined to 17-for-21 at the stripe. He also recorded a team-best four steals, while Eli Adams and Major notched three each.

Herbie Brown and Bill Livezey led the Chargers with 16 points, followed by Luke Beers with 14. Jason Kuntzelman had a team-best nine rebounds and five assists.

Waples set the single-season scoring last game and his raised his total to 552 on the year. He is averaging an impressive 26.3 points per game, which ranks among the top five in all of Division III and is 4.2 points per game more than the next closer scorer in the NEAC. In addition to the scoring mark, Waples is the all-time career leader at Berks in scoring average (19.6), free throws made (305), and free throw percentage (77.8). The 37 points were tied for the sixth most in a game at Berks and Waples now has six of the top-10 spots in a single-game.

Waples and the Nittany Lions will look to carry over this momentum when they host Penn State Abington in the final home game of the season on Tuesday, February 14 at 8 p.m. Ellison, Major, and Waples will be recognized with Senior Day honors prior to the start of that contest.
 
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