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Ben Ahmed. Thomas Netzer photo.




As PSA’s Prep basketball team concluded its regular season as the Power 5 conference champions, the Mustangs now have two goals remaining: a conference tournament title, and of course, another national title.
PSA beat Commonwealth 67-50 Saturday to finish 10-0 in the conference, and 33-3 overall, leaving coach Tom Espinosa feeling good about the way his team is playing.
“We’ve won a lot of close games where we had to be tough,” he said, “and that’s how we want to be. There are a lot of good teams out there, especially when we get to the national tournament, so we have to be ready to play close games and be tougher than our opponents. We haven’t always been that way this year, so to be doing it now going into the postseason is a good thing.”
The headline again last week for the Mustangs – who won all three of their games – was the pursuit by Mouhamed Dioubate and Darryl Simmons of some career milestones. Simmons hit one, and Dioubate moved much closer to three more. Simmons hit career 3-pointer No. 141 to move past Hassan Diarra and into first place on the school’s all-time list. Simmons still needs 107 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
Dioubate meanwhile finished the week with 35 points and 35 rebounds in the three games. He now needs just 80 points for 1,000 in his career, 26 rebounds to become the school’s all-time leader, and 71 rebounds to set the school’s new single-season record. The Mustangs have at least four postseason games coming up, and could play as many as six. Dioubate is averaging 14.2 points and 9.7 rebounds this season.
The Power 5 Tournament gets underway in Springfield on Friday; the National Prep Tournament begins March 8 at Clark University.
In Tuesday’s 104-52 win over We Believe Academy, Dioubate had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Baye Ndongo tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Ahmed had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Duane Thompson finished with 10 points, four assists, and three steals. Muazabini Adamu added eight points and 10 boards for the Mustangs, who had 32 offensive rebounds and 70 overall.
Ndongo, Ahmed, and Thompson combined to make all 19 of their shots and finish with 44 points Friday in a 102-73 win at Busche Academy. Ndongo went 8-for-8 (including one 3-pointer) from the field to finish with 17 points; Ahmed went 6-for-6 and finished with 15 points, while also grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots; and Thompson went 5-for-5 (including a pair of 3s) for the Mustangs. Dioubate had six points and 10 rebounds.
Saturday, Ahmed had a double-double, Blake Barkley pulled down double-digit rebounds, and Thompson scored in double figures for the third straight game as PSA beat Commonwealth 67-50. Dioubate had 13 points and nine boards. Ahmed had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double, Barkley grabbed a season-high 10 boards, and Thompson finished with 12 points, while Oswin Erhunmwunse added eight points and eight rebounds in the win.
PSA’s Boys Elite team split their two games this week, topping Commonwealth 69-66 Saturday behind 18 points from Thierry Lokrou. Travis Upchurch added 15 points, while Jalen Claude and Anthony O’Brien both chipped in 12 for the Mustangs.
They lost their final home game Tuesday, falling 81-71 to Evangel Christian Academy. Yhali Steinhauer scored 21 points for the Mustangs, who were down five players - including two of their top three scorers - due to illness, Tyler Hanson took advantage of more playing time and finished with 17 points, making five 3-pointers along the way.
Also Saturday, the Girls Select team lost at Hoosac, 66-56, despite a game-high 23 points from Astou Ndiaye. Zuzanna Komor added 13 points and Keyani Jackson finished with nine for the Mustangs.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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