Reading, Pa. – The Penn State Abington men's basketball team its third straight conference game after a 97-81 loss to Penn State Berks on Wednesday night at the Beaver Community Center.

Avery Barnes led the Nittany Lions with 23 points and 11 rebounds, his sixth double-doubles of the season, while Mike Marvin recorded his 12^th double-doubles of the year after adding 20 points and 12 rebounds. Alex Ageydu netted 12 points for Abington who fell 4-12 overall and 2-3 in NEAC play.

Tom Smith led all scorers for Berks with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dontez Reid scored 16 points as Mike Porter followed closely behind with 15 points for Berks who won their fifth straight game to remain in first place in the NEAC south division.

Penn State Berks led by as much as 11 points midway through the opening tip-off before Abington rallied back in the final minutes. Max Alton fed an inside pass to Marvin who then posted a layup at the 11:47 mark to spark the comeback for Abington. As basketbs were traded on both end of the court, Berks' begain to see its lead dwindled to just two points in a span of two minutes, thanks to a trio of layups by Abington's RJ Handy, Max Alton, and Barnes.

With less than a minute remaining on the clock and down by four points, Abington, who never led in the game, wasted no time as Ageydu tallied a layup followed by a jumper by Marvin 20 seconds later to tie up the contest at 40 points apiece at the half.

Berks came out of the locker room determined as they opened the second half with a 11-0 run in a span of three minutes before Alton netted an Abington basket to stop the bleeding. But the wound never healed as Berks continued its push before putting the game out of reach, leading by as much as 19 points at the 2:06 mark.

It may seemed that teams were evenly matched on paper as Abington and Berks shot 47.1 and 48.7 percent from the field respectively, the biggest impact was noted on the free-throws. Berks made 13-of-16 shots (81.3 percent) from the line, while Abington made 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) shots from the charity stripe. Berks also proved that defense always win the game, recording 13 steals on the night.

After a three-game road trip, Abington will return home on Saturday, facing Wells College at 4 p.m., which will feature live stats and live video online. Be sure to keep in touch at abingtonsports.com for all your Nittany Lions basketball updates.