Box Score KEUKA PARK , N.Y. – The Penn State Abington men's basketball squad swept Keuka College in conference play with a 58-55 victory Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions picked up its tenth win of the year to improve 10-7 overall and 7-3 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC). Keuka falls to 4-13 on the year and 2-10 in the NEAC.
Avery Barnes shot 7-of-11 to lead the Blue and White with 22 points and pulled in 14 rebounds, adding a pair of steals and blocks on the day.
Max Alton contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, collecting five assists in the win, while
Mike Marvin and
Nisiar Smith posted nine and seven points, respectively.
Barnes scored four of the six points for Abington in the first three minutes of the opening tip-off to lead 6-3 with 16:29 to play before Keuka stormed its way into the game on a pair of layups from Trevor Healey to give the Storm their first lead of the game. It became a back and forth affair for the next ten minutes as Abington trailed the entire moment until Alton made a layup before being fouled by Keuka's Jared Wagner to tie the game at 11 points apiece at the 9:55 mark off a free throw. Three minutes later, Wagner's three-point shot sparked an 8-0 run for Keuka as the Nittany Lions had to settle with a pair of shots from the charity stripe by Barnes and Alton before heading into the locker room down 29-22 at the half.
Smith opened the second half of the contest with a bomb from beyond the arc, hoping to spark an Abington rally, but Keuka would quickly squat that opportunity on a three from Wagner to spark a nine point lead with 14:58 to play. The momentum was in favor of Keuka until a steal followed by a dunk by Barnes set off a tectonic shift with a 10-0 run in a span of five minutes to give the Nittany Lions the 49-44 lead with 6:56 remaining in the game.
Keuka managed to cut the deficit quickly to two with a layup from Trevor Healy, who was also fouled and made the extra point from the stripe, before Abington went on a 6-0 run for the 55-47 lead with 3:58 remaining. Once again, the Storm refused to dissipate and rallied back with an 5-1 run of its own before Wagner nailed a three-pointer with 1:15 on the clock as Keuka quickly called timeout, trailing by just one point.
Coming off the break, Keuka went into a full frenzy with a full court pressure, forcing an Abington turnover from the get go as Wagner stole the ball and pulled the trigger from beyond the arc, only to watch the ball clang the rim and over the basket.
Abington called time to set up a play. The Nittany Lions drained some time off the clock before Alton successfully found the net to give the Blue and White a three point lead. Keuka quickly inbounded the ball as Wagner set up the three-point shot, only to watch the ball clang the rim for the second time as the Nittany Lions held on for the 58-55 decision to pick up their tenth tenth victory of the season.
The Nittany Lions will continue conference play tomorrow as the squad travels to Aurora, N.Y to take on the Express of Wells College for the 12 p.m. contest. Stay tuned to Abingtonsports.com for the scores and updates on your Nittany Lions!
