Box Score Abington, Pa. – It was a battle for the ages earlier this afternoon when two Penn State schools squared off for the final time inside the Penn State Abington gymnasium as conference opponents. Today's matchup between the Nittany Lions of Abington and vaunted rival Penn State Harrisburg had it all: both teams fighting back from tremendous deficits, a halftime celebration of victories past, desperation baskets and defensive stops, and multiple overtimes, all in the name of trying to wrestle control of second place in the NEAC South Division. It was a recipe for pandemonium inside the walls of the historic Abington arena, and that recipe cooked up a fantastic 113-105 double overtime victory for Penn State Abington.
 
In the early stages of the game, it seemed as if Penn State Harrisburg (8-11, 5-3 NEAC) would run away from the home team early. Although sophomore Mike Marvin put Abington up early with a basket off the opening tip, Harrisburg then went on a 14-1 run over the next three minutes, forcing Abington into using two of their six timeouts very early in the affair. After the second of these timeouts, the men in white for Abington seemed to find their composure, and began to turn things around. By working the ball inside to their big men, Abington staunched the bleeding over the next several minutes, not making up much ground, but not losing much either.
 
Finally, down 13 at the 12:07 mark of the first half, Penn State Abington (8-12, 6-3 NEAC) went on a run of their own to reel Harrisburg back within striking distance. Marvin got things going with a strong and-1 finish at the basket to cut the deficit to just 10. After trading scoreless possessions back and forth, it was Marvin again, this time scoring back-to-back layups for Abington. An offensive foul by Harrisburg gave the ball right back to Abington, where sophomore Max Alton drilled a three-pointer. In a span of three minutes, Abington had cut their deficit to just 29-28.
 
As the half wound down, the home Nittany Lions were able to in fact tie, and then take the lead once again in the game. Abington was able to stretch their advantage to as many as eight points at times, before a late pair of baskets from Harrisburg made the halftime score 48-44 in favor of Penn State Abington. As the teams hit the lockers, a new team came out onto the court for the first time in 25 years. Halftime featured a celebration and reunion of the 1988 men's and women's basketball teams from what was back then known as Penn State Ogontz. Twenty-five years ago, both of those squads won the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference championships. Today's fanfare brought a plethora of families and former players back into the Abington arena for a celebration of those victories, and the bulging crowd certainly helped the Abington Nittany Lions later on in the game.
 
With the action on the hardcourt resuming for the second half, Abington tried valiantly to fend off any attempts at retaking the lead by Harrisburg. For the early part of the half, the home team was successful at this, but finally with 7:34 remaining to play, Harrisburg took 75-73 lead over Abington. The visiting Nittany Lions jumped ahead by as much as five points, before it was Abington's turn to fight back once again. The home team went on a 7-0 run, taking an 84-80 lead with 2:37 remaining to play. Harrisburg hit a three-pointer to get within one, but then a jumper from Avery Barnes made the score 86-83 with just 35 seconds left to play. Harrisburg missed a layup on their subsequent possession and was forced to foul. They caught a big break when Abington missed both free throws. Again, Harrisburg came back down the court and missed a shot, and again they were forced to foul. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, the foul line, which had been a strength of the team in the first half, suddenly became cursed, as Abington missed both freebies again.
 
Harrisburg inbounded the ball with 14 seconds remaining on the clock and down by three. William Doyle took a desperation three-pointer that clanged off the iron with three seconds remaining. By some miracle, the rebound bounced perfectly to be picked up inside the arc by Jordan Gatchell, the shortest man on the floor at the time for Harrisburg. Gatchell rushed back behind the line and turned to heave one final shot for the Harrisburg, and it caught nothing but nylon. The 5-8 senior had tied the game at 86-86 for Harrisburg, sending their visiting fans into a frenzy.
 
Harrisburg used their newfound momentum to come back and take the lead in the first overtime period. Abington stuck right with them however, and with just 43 seconds left to play, Max Alton blew by his man and laid in a basket putting Abington up once again, 96-94. Each team earned a trip to the free throw line and sank one of two free throws, putting Abington ahead 97-95 with 18 seconds left. William Doyle came up huge this time for Harrisburg, driving down the floor and draining a layup with just nine seconds left to play. Abington head coach Chris Potash took a timeout and drew up a brilliant final play for the home team, but just as Avery Barnes looked certain to lay-in the winning basket at the buzzer, it was Kevin Icker who blocked the ball out of Barnes' hands and sent the game into double overtime.
 
Finally, in the second overtime period, Abington began to run away with the game. Harrisburg missed their early chances and were forced to foul, and Abington, who have struggled so far this season with free throws, drained 12 out of 14 free throws to close out the game and pull away to the 113-105 double overtime victory.
 
Mike Marvin and Avery Barnes had huge games for Penn State Abington. The sophomore forwards pulled in 29 and 26 points apiece and 21 and 24 rebounds apiece to each pull in double-doubles. Max Alton had 23 points and Mike Colacci added 13 of his own to help lead Abington to victory. Jordan Gatchell led Harrisburg with 28 points, while William Doyle came very close to a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
 
With the victory, Abington takes over control of second place in the NEAC South Division, sitting a half-game ahead of Harrisburg. The Nittany Lions will get a nice break and a chance to recover from the marathon game, as they won't be back on the floor until next Sunday when they take on Keuka College in New York. Gametime is set for 3:00 p.m., but you can get all your updates on the Nittany Lions playoff chase right here at abingtonsports.com.