READING, Pa. – A late three pointer from sophomore guard
Terrance Reese (Philadelphia, PA) forced overtime, but the Penn State Abington men's basketball team fell to Penn State Berks 92-88 on Tuesday night. After the loss the Nittany Lions fall to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Sophomore forward
John Ryan (Warminster, PA) led the team in points with 20 and added three assists for the night. Five other Nittany Lions were able to hit double-digits, scoring 86-of-88 points.
In the first half both teams were hitting their shots early, with the lead changing five times in the first three minutes of action. Berks was pounding the boards earning their points in the paint, while Abington tried to hit their shots from behind the arch,but struggled, only hitting 6-of-20. Late in the half Berks took the largest lead of the game after consecutive layups gave them a five point advantage. Abington responded by earning fouls and hitting its shots at the free-throw line. Although the hosts still held a 38-35 lead at the break.
Berks opened the second half scoring from behind three point line to take a double-digit lead over Abington. Ryan started to heat up and drained eight consecutive points to cut the deficit. Back-to-back three-balls from Reese and senior guard
Kevin Raymond (Chalfont, PA) tied the game at 55-55 with under 12 minutes in the game. Berks took the lead back, but Abington hung around staying within a few buckets. With under four minutes in the game Abington sophomore
Quinn DeNofa (Philadelphia, PA) drained his shot from downtown to give the visitors the slight advantage. Berks responded by hitting their shots from the floor and took a three point lead with under 30 seconds remaining. Reese tied the game with his three-pointer, and Ryan had a chance to end the game with five seconds left, but his shot didn't fall.
In overtime, Berks put away the game by earning fouls and hitting their shots at the stripe.
Abington looks to rebound when they travel to Wilson College this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
