CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Abington men's basketball team held a second half lead over hosting Wilson College, but the Phoenix rallied to a 81-78 win on Saturday afternoon.  After the loss the Nittany Lions drop to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the NEAC.

Sophomore forward John Ryan (Warminster, PA) led the team again with 17 points for the game, and sophomore guard Terrance Reese (Philadelphia, PA) joined Ryan with 17 points of his own.

In the first half the Nittany Lions held a small advantage over the Phoenix in the first five minutes of action.  Freshman Devin Hill (Philadelphia, PA) led Abington to an 11-6 lead after he drained his shoot deep from behind the arch.  The Nittany Lions continued to hold the edge throughout the first half, but Wilson tied the game with under three minutes to play in the half.  With the game even between both sides the Nittany Lions finished the half on a 10-2 run highlighted by three shots from downtown. Abington went into the half with the lead thanks to their three-point shooting, going 6-of-10 from beyond the three point line.

The Nittany Lions continued their strong shooting from the floor but couldn't break through to a double-digit lead, letting the Phoenix hang around.  With three minutes remaining on the clock the Nittany Lions held a seven point margin, but the Phoenix caught fire at the right time hitting back-to-back threes to shift momentum.  The Nittany Lions had multiple attempts to tie the game in the final seconds but their shots didn't fall.

Abington will be off until they travel to the Juniata Holiday Tournament on Thursday December 21^st , with a time to be determined.