Box Score Abington, Pa. – The Penn State Abington men's basketball squad moved their current winning streak to three games with a victory earlier this afternoon over Morrisville State College. The Nittany Lions fell behind early on in the game before roaring back in the second half to clinch an 80-73 victory. Mike Marvin put together another double-double, his tenth on the year, with a game-high 26 points and 16 rebounds. The Blue and White got strong games out of most of their starting lineup, in fact; Avery Barnes and Devin Jones scored 13 and 14 apiece while Nisiar Smith went 4-for-9 from beyond the arc en route to 17 points on the afternoon. The Mustangs, meanwhile, got 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting by Jordan Prior.
 
The early afternoon game got underway with each side trading deep three-pointers to open the affair. Prior sank the first basket of the game just six seconds into play to put the visitors up 3-0 before the Nittany Lions (7-4, 4-1 NEAC) came right back down to the other end of the court and drained a three-ball of their own through Nisiar Smith. Unfortunately for the hosts, this was as close as things would get for the rest of the first half. Although both sides seemed to be trading baskets back-and-forth, Morrisville State (6-6, 3-3 NEAC) actually managed to pull away steadily throughout the rest of the half. Five minutes in and the Mustangs held a six point lead, which then bubbled to eight points with just under ten minutes left in the half. The Nittany Lions managed to chip it back down to a 24-28 game at one point, but by the time the teams headed into the locker room, Morrisville State had built their lead back up to 41-33, in large part thanks to a 26-0 advantage on points in the paint in the half.
 
Fortunately for the home squad, it turned out to be a tale of two halves in today's contest. The Mustangs did manage to extend their lead to eleven early on in the second frame, but from that point on it was the Nittany Lions who carried play the rest of the way. Trailing 35-46 with just over 17:00 to play, the Blue and White went on an 18-10 run over the next six minutes to cut their deficit to a single point. Then, with 9:10 left to go in the game, Nisiar Smith hit one of his four threes to tie the game at 56 apiece and get the Abington crowd back on their feet. In fact, the Nittany Lions went on a 9-0 run to take a 62-56 lead of their own, momentarily. Then, it was the Mustangs turn to come roaring back, as the visitors went on a 9-0 run themselves to leap back in front by a score of 65-62. However, the Nittany Lions were not to be denied, particularly after all the hard work they had already put in throughout the second half. Devin Jones hit a three-ball of his own to re-tie the game, and on the next trip down the floor Avery Barnes nailed a free throw to put the hosts back out in front by one. Over the next few minutes, Penn State Abington was able to stretch that lead to five thanks to some quality late-game free throw shooting. With 49 seconds left to play, the Mustangs would cut their deficit to three on a layup by Steven Thompson, but those were the last points that would fall in the visitor basket on this afternoon. The Nittany Lions sank all four free throws they took over the remaining seconds, and the Mustangs could only come up empty on their desperation threes, allowing the Blue and White to hold on for the 80-73 win over last season's NEAC champions.
 
With the victory, the Nittany Lions move to 7-4 overall on the season and, more importantly, to 4-1 in the NEAC conference. This helps them keep pace with Lancaster Bible, who currently hold the first place position in the standings with a 6-0 conference record. Penn State Abington will try to keep their win streak going when they get right back out on the court tomorrow for another conference contest, this time against Cazenovia. Game time is set for 12:00 pm. Be sure to keep checking in at abingtonsports.com for all your updates on Penn State Abington athletics!