Box Score Abington, Pa. – The Penn State Abington men's basketball squad earned its first win of the season earlier tonight against the visiting Spartans of York College. The Nittany Lions built up a large lead in the first half before cruising to a 90-79 victory. Junior Kyle Battell led Penn State Abington with 22 points on the night.
 
York College (1-5, 0-1 CAC) jumped out to an early lead with the opening basket, but it was all downhill from there for the Spartans. In what would be a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the evening, sophomore Darien Mitchell drained a three-pointer at the 17:48 mark of the first half to put the Nittany Lions on top by a score of 6-4. From there, the Blue and White never looked back.
 
Penn State Abington (1-5, 0-0 NEAC) shot the lights out in the first half, going 16 for 24 from the field, including a ridiculous 10 for 15 from beyond the three-point line. The Nittany Lions were led by an absolutely incredible performance from Battell. The junior guard hailing from Readington, N.J. started the game 7 for 7 from the field, all of which were three-pointers. This even included a rare four-point play at with 3:46 remaining in the first half. Junior guard Fran Hennessey, who had just come off the bench, found a wide-open Battell for yet another triple. As the ball left Battell's hand, Spartan Julian Watson, who closed out the shot too hard, fouled him. Battell fell to the ground from the contact just as the ball swished through the netting, sending the hometown crowd rising to their feet in excitement. The finish on the free-throw gave the Nittany Lions a twelve point lead that they would extend to 13 by halftime.
 
With York College coming out looking to chip away at their deficit, the Nittany Lions looked to a new set of characters to carry the team through the second half. Up stepped Mike Marvin, Darien Mitchell, and Max Alton. Each player roared to life in the second half. At one point in the half, Alton nailed a three-pointer off an assist from Mitchell, Marvin hit a jumper, and Mitchell sunk two free-throws, all in succession, to put the Nittany Lions up by a score of 67-49, their largest lead of the game.
 
York was able to slowly creep back into the game, however, off of a combination of defensive stops and made three-pointers. The Spartans, who struggled from beyond the arc by shooting only 26%, finally got a few bombs to drop in, and suddenly the Penn State lead was cut to just 6 points with 8:44 to play.
 
From here on out, however, the Spartans went cold. Penn State Abington made all the buckets coming home, while York struggled to make shots overtop of the pesky Nittany Lion zone defense. When the final horn sounded, the Nittany Lions came away with their first victory, a 90-79 scoreline that saw four different figures finish with at least 16 points.
 
Battell led the Nittany Lions with 22 points, all in his incredible first half effort. Marvin got a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Alton finished with 18 points, and Darien Mitchell got a double-double of his own with 16 points and 12 assists. The Spartans were led by Jeremy Skoloda, who scored 19 points, while Julian Watson added 16 and Todd Maciejewski chipped in 13. The Nittany Lions stay at home this Saturday to try and build up a winning streak as they face off against Penn State Lehigh Valley. Game time is set for 1 pm. As always, be sure to stay tuned in to abingtonsports.com for all your Nittany Lions athletics updates.