With the start of the basketball season already a month into play, the Penn State McKeesport Lions have had their fill of tough and exciting play.
The Lions have bounced back after a last minute loss to Potomac State as they would show they were here to play this season giving them a run for their money in the unfortunate 96-93 loss.
Now, the Lions have won their last two against Community College of Allegheny County, South and Allegheny to boost their conference record to 3-2.
They would travel away to take on Allegheny in hopes of avenging a late loss to them last season. From the get go, it was evident that this game had the making of a low-scoring defensive contest.
Tile Lions would be strong from outside as Jon Balogh (sophomore health and human development) would lead the team in points with 19, while Jamaal Anderson (freshman- two year liberal arts) had 14 points. Despite lackluster shooting performances from both sides, the Lions would pull through with a 65-56 victory.
Hoping to keep the momentum, the Lions hosted South in a backyard battle here on Dec. 4.

It looked to be sheer dominance from the start as the Lions laid on the full court press, causing South to rack up a handful of turnovers, while forcing them into using almost all of their timeouts in the first half.
It seemed at halftime that the Lions were running away with the game, but South would go on a run of their own bringing the game within nine at one point. As quickly as the gap closed, it would go right back after Rasheed Bey (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) brought down the building with a huge dunk that seized the momentum for good. From there, the Lions would stroll to the 91-78 victory.
The team was once again led by a strong game from Jon Balogh who has been outstanding on defense all year. Balogh ended up with 22 points in the effort, and Jonathan Nath (sophomore information sciences and technology) was right behind him with 20 points.
With the win, the Lions improve their record to 4-6 overall.
The Lions will wrap up play for awhile as they host Penn State Beaver on Dec. 8. Games will resume the Thursday after Christmas break when they get their rematch with Garrett County Community College.