Box Score MARCY, N.Y. - One look at the box score and your first thought would be whether the game went into overtime but sadly it did not as the Penn State Abington men's basketball team dropped its second conference game on the weekend, this time to the SUNYIT Wildcats with a 112-91 decision.
The loss puts Abington at 8-7 overall and 5-3 in conference play, while SUNYIT improves to 10-4 on the year and ties the Nittany Lions at 5-3 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).
Mike Marvin led the Blue and White with 21 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the week.
Avery Barnes posted 18 points with three blocks, while
Devin Jones posted 15 points followed by
Alex Agyedu's 10.
SUNYIT wasted no time getting ahead in the game quickly as a pair of three-pointers from Ryan James and Alexander Drake, followed up with Drake's layup, giving the Wildcats an 8-0 run for the 12-4 lead with 16:21 to play in the first half. Abington managed to find the basket several times, chipping its way back into the game, but a pair of jumpers followed up with another three for a 9-2 run, extended the Wildcats' lead to 14 points in just two minutes.
The aggressiveness was too much for the Nittany Lions to handle as SUNYIT led by as many as 19 points at the 9:15 mark before Abington responded with a jumper from Marvin to spark a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to just four points as the buzzer sounded the conclusion of the first half with the Wildcats holding on to a 43-39 lead heading into the break.
The second half was all offense and no defense on both ends of the court. SUNYIT would jump out again out five points at two occasions before
Kyle Garrett nailed a three-pointer to tie it up at 48 points aside, all within two minutes of the second stanza.
The half continued to become a battle for the lead for the next four minutes until Malcom Jones successfully completed the jumper as a follow was called to follow up with a good shot from the stripe to spark a 14-2 run for the Wildcats to lead 71-57 with 12:54 remaining in the game.
The shooting spree continued late into the second half as both teams vied for baskets on each possession until another jumper by SUNYIT's Jones engulfed Abington's opportunities as the Wildcats went on a 16-4 run to expand the lead to 23 with 6:18 to play. The game continued to be a high scoring contests but it was not enough for Abington to muster a late rally as SUNYIT held on for the 112-91 wild win for its fifth conference victory of the season.
The Nittany Lions returns to action on Wednesday when Abington hosts conference foe, Penn State Berks, for the 6 p.m. tip-off.
