No. 10 Penn State (23-14) throttled No. 7 Texas A&M 76-59 in last Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Grad student Andrew Funk (Warrington/Archbishop Wood) led the way for the Nittany Lions, draining eight 3-pointers in a 27-point performance. Funk set new Nittany Lion records for most threes and points in an NCAA tournament game.
Funk, a transfer from Bucknell where he won the 2022 Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year, scored 12 second half points two nights later in the second round against No. 2 Texas.
But Texas did a two-step against teams with area ties, topping Penn State 71-66 after beating No. 15 Colgate 81-61 in the first round. This year’s Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year, Colgate (26-9) senior Tucker Richardson, scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds for the Raiders. Richardson, also the Patriot League Player of the Year, was the only Raider to record multiple points, rebounds and assists against the Longhorns.
On the women’s side, Kaitlyn Orihel (Newtown) scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds off the bench in No. 4 Villanova’s (30-6) 76-59 Saturday first-round win over No. 4 Cleveland State. ’Nova topped No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast 76-57 two nights later to advance to the Sweet 16.
Thomas Jefferson junior Haley Meinel (CB South) was named to the Division II East All Regional NCAA Tournament team. The Rams (28-5) advanced to the Sweet 16 before bowing to Assumption 62-57 on March 13. Meinel tallied 56 points, 18 steals and eight assists in Thomas Jefferson’s three tournament games.
In high school, the Faith Christian Lions (23-7) advanced to the PIAA elite eight for the second year in a row. The Lions fell to District Two champion Montrose 45-29 last Friday in the girls 2A tournament at Wyoming High School. Last season, Faith advanced to the Class A PIAA quarterfinal.
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