Box Score ABINGTON, Pa. - Avery Barnes led the Nittany Lions with 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds but it was not enough as the Penn State Abington men's basketball team dropped a 80-75 decision to SUNYIT in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) matchup Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss puts Abington at 11-8 overall and 8-4 in the NEAC, while the Wildcats improved to 13-6 on year and 8-4 in conference play.
 
Mike Marvin collected his 14^th double-doubles of the year with 19 points and 17 rebounds along with three blocks. Nisiar Smith contributed 12 points on the day as Max Alton posted 11 points along with five assists and a steal.
 
A quick three by Smith gave Abington an early lead from the get-go, however Alexander Drake would respond back with a three for SUNYIT to spark nailed a 17-0 run to extend the lead to 17-3 with 14:32 to play. The Nittany Lions struggled to hit their marks throughout the first stanza, shooting 42.4 percent from the field.
 
Despite a 16 point lead by the Wildcats at the 8:53 mark, the Nittany Lions took advantage of SUNYIT's poor free-throw shooting, hitting just 2-for-9, midway through the half as Smith made a bounce pass to Marvin for the layup to as the Blue and White went on a 14-0 rally, cutting the margin to just two points, all in a span of four minutes.
 
Despite the shift in the momentum, the Wildcats attempted to extend the lead, hoping to keep Abington at bay, but the Nittany Lions kept striking a back and finally trailed by just one point on a pair of charity points from Max Alton with 1:08 to play. SUNYIT managed to put up two additional points on a layup by Drake before the break with the Wildcats holding onto the 34-31 lead as both teams went into the locker room.
 
The second half became a shooting affair that saw four lead changes throughout the stanza. After a SUNYIT basket to start the stanza, Abington quickly rallied, starting with a jumper from Avery Barnes followed by a bomber from beyond the arc from Smith to give the Blue and White the go-ahead lead. A pair of free throws by Barnes along with a three-pointer from Kyle Battell, Abington managed to set the pace, establishing a five point lead at the 17:18 mark.
 
Abington remained hot midway through the half, hitting 56.3 percent of its shots from the field with Battell hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in the second half as the Nittany Lions led by as many as 10 points until the 11:10 mark, when the momentum began to shift in favor of the Wildcats. SUNYIT took advantage of Abington's turnovers, scoring seven unanswered points, cutting the deficit to three before Drake hit a three and was followed up with a Ryan James layup to give the Wildcats the lead with 7:01 to play.
 
Both teams continued to trade the lead two more times until an Alonzo Grainger's three-pointer gave the Wildcats its final lead with 4:19 remaining. Abington continued to struggle down towards the end as SUNYIT extended the lead to nine with 33 seconds left in the game. The Blue and White managed to shave the margin to five points but it was not enough for a comeback as time expired.
 
Abington will wrap up the weekend with another conference matchup tomorrow as the Nittany Lions hosts SUNY Cobleskill for the 12:00 p.m. contest.