CLARK SUMMIT, PA. – Down in the second half, the Penn State Abington basketball team rallied to a 72-69 win over Clarks Summit University on Tuesday night. With the win the Nittany Lions improve to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

The Nittany Lions were led by senior John Ryan again with 17 points and ten rebounds for the double-double. Freshman Brian Randolph III put up a career high 17 points to help the Nittany Lions secure the win.

In the first half the Nittany Lions and Defenders went blow for blow with three lead changes in the opening minutes of action.  The Nittany Lions pulled ahead on a six point run highlighted by a deep shot from Jay Fitzgerald.  Abington held the slim margin until the Defenders went on a 9-0 run of their own leading 19-13 at the 10 minute mark of the first half. Clarks Summit held the lead until Randolph sparked a 10-0 run with his shot from downtown and the go-ahead layup to give Abington a 31-29 lead with three minutes left.  With only 40 seconds left in the game the Defenders battled back and took a 36-34 going into the break.

Coming out of the break Randolph knocked down another three to give the Nittany Lions the lead, but it was short lived. The Defenders responded with their strong performance behind the arc hitting 57 percent of their shots from three.  Abington battled to keep the game within reach, only trailing by six points at most. In the final five minutes of action the Nittany Lions turned up the pressure with a 7-2 run to tie the game 58-58 with 3:34 left to go. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch helped the Nittany Lions pull ahead of the Defenders and keep their lead to their fifth win of the season. The best start the program has had since becoming a member of NCAA Division III.  

Abington returns to action when they travel to the Juniata Tournament to face Johnson and Wales on Friday Night at 5:00 p.m.