Red Knights’ Malik Osumanu blocked out loss to Eagles, led bounce back against Bulldogs
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
You might’ve figured Malik Osumanu would’ve been hurting after the pummelling Reading High took from Exeter the other night.
The senior center made just one basket in the loss even though he was virtually ignored by the Eagles’ defense, which allowed him to roam free while concentrating on other players.
Osumanu was unable to do anything to stop that 24-point onslaught – except grow from it.
“Nah, I wasn’t down,” Osumanu assured. “For us, it wasn’t a loss, it was a lesson. We learned what we needed to do.”
The 6-5 Osumanu went from being a non-factor Tuesday to making the play of the game Thursday when he blocked a shot in the final minute to preserve the Red Knights’ lead, then blocked another to seal the 54-48 Berks Conference Division I win over rival Wilson at the Geigle.
The Red Knights (2-1, 6-4) trailed by eight points in the third quarter and fell behind four times in the final quarter but kept battling.
They allowed just one basket over the final 4 ½ minutes and no points over the final 2 ½ minutes, in large part because of a fullcourt trapping defense that led to six fourth-quarter Wilson turnovers.
“We were able to apply pressure and they didn’t know what to do,” Osumanu said of the Bulldogs (2-1, 8-3), who struggled to score all night long, even in the half-court game they played most of the first 2 ½ quarters.
The Bulldogs had plenty of good looks, especially in the first half, but missed several open shots around the basket and couldn’t get much to fall from the perimeter. Overall, they made just 14-of-43 shots.
The Bulldogs had a chance to tie it coming out of a timeout with 30 seconds remaining. Madyx Gruber got free off an inbounds pass from midcourt and headed to the basket.
Osumanu greeted him with his long arms and swatted the ball away. Weshley Rosario retrieved it and flung it downcourt to Daquann Burgess, whose layup gave Reading a 52-48 lead.
Gruber rushed down court and put up a 3 but Osumanu erased that one, too, leading to Yadiel Cruz’s layup – the last of the Red Knights’ 8-0 finishing run.
“When I saw him coming down the lane and the ball going up, I saw my opportunity and I took it,” Osumanu said of Gruber’s potential tying shot with about 27 seconds left. “And when they got the ball back again I saw an opportunity and was able to take care of it.”
That final flurry showed the resilience of a young Reading team that’s been put through the wringer the first month of the season, never more so than in Tuesday’s 79-55 loss – its worst to a league opponent in 35 years.
“Everybody wants to write us off,” said first-year head coach Francis Camara. “Go ahead. Our boys are fine.”
The Red Knights didn’t play a great game; far from it. They trailed most of the way, missed their first 10 3-pointers, and turned the ball over 14 times through three quarters. They allowed far too many open shots and second shots in the first half, especially from 6-5 Luke Levan, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Still, they refused to give up.
“That’s because of the heart of our team,” Camara said. “We talk about how everything runs so deep in Reading, (how we’re connected to) the community. Everyone (here) has so much heart and they fight through so much adversity on a daily basis and that’s what our boys are doing: They’re just fighting through adversity.”
The Red Knights caused a lot of adversity with their press. The Bulldogs knew it was coming and practiced against it. They had seen the same kind of zone press less than two weeks ago against Central York; they ran through that like a sieve in an 11-point win.
Not Thursday. They seemed stuck in low gear, made poor choices on crosscourt passes and fueled Reading’s comeback with turnovers.
“You don’t want the end of the game to be helter-skelter, because they thrive on that,” Wilson coach Matt Coldren said of the Red Knights, “and we don’t. They took advantage of all our mistakes.”
The Bulldogs took their final lead with 2:45 left on Jon Etim’s foul-line jumper but the Red Knights answered immediately, Nico Sosa scoring on a drive. A steal and layup by Daquann Burgess with 1:55 left gave Reading the lead for good.
Wilson’s final five possessions consisted of two turnovers and three shots – each blocked by Osumanu.
Coldren, seeking his 400th career victory, was bitterly disappointed by the meltdown.
“We were awful,” he said. “Nothing against Reading – Reading out-played us tonight. We turned the ball over way too many times from guys who have been playing lots of minutes for us this year. You can’t win games with that.
“(Our players) were intimidated, and it showed,” he said. “They were scared. I don’t know (why). I hate to be hard on kids, but I’m really, utterly disappointed.
“It was a great opportunity to get a two-game lead on the team that’s been our nemesis forever. Exeter beat them on Tuesday and we had a great chance to beat them tonight, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 13 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 48 |
| Reading High | 12 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 54 |
| Bulldogs (8-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 2-9 | 3-4 | 1-4 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| T. Hunsicker | 1-5 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Etim | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Akings | 3-11 | 6-8 | 1-3 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| Levan | 5-9 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| McFadden | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Zullinger | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Twiford | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glover | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 14-43 | 16-22 | 4-13 | 11 | 23/27 | 48 |
| Red Knights (6-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Burgess | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Cruz | 8-15 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
| Camara | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Rosario | 4-10 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| Osumanu | 2-4 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Sosa | 3-6 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Beatty | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 23-47 | 7-11 | 1-12 | 11 | 28/29 | 54 |
Turnovers: Wilson 17, Reading 16. Team rebounds: Wilson 4, Reading 1.
