ABINGTON, Pa. – A huge second half for the Penn State Abington men's basketball team, almost upset NEAC leader Wells College, but the Nittany Lions fell just short with an 84-79 loss on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions fall to 5-9 and 4-5 in the conference.

Coming off a 34 point performance against Penn College, freshman John Ryan (Warminster, Pa.) followed up with 31 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

In the first half the Express and the Nittany Lions traded blows in the beginning of the contest. A three-ball from Austin Slawter (Philadelphia, Pa.) gave the Nittany Lions a slight advantage. Wells quickly took back the lead on a six point swing. Abington stayed within reach but Wells pushed ahead with clutch shooting from behind the arc to a double digit advantage.  In the final two minutes Abington cut the deficit to seven, but the Expressed closed out the half on an 8-2 run.

Momentum shifted in the second half when the Nittany Lions defense forced three turnovers in two minutes and drew eight fouls to bring the game within a point.  Abington couldn't get over the hump down the stretch because of the Express hit their free throws to close out the game.

Abington will look to rebound tomorrow when they host Keuka College at 2:00 p.m.