ABINGTON, Pa. – Freshman Alex Salata III (Pottstown, PA) came up big for the Penn State Abington men's basketball team, leading them to a 93-66 win over the College of Saint Elizabeth on Tuesday night in the First round of the NEAC Tournament.
 
The Nittany Lions earned their biggest margin of victory in the NEAC Tournament since joining the conference, and their first tournament win since 2015.
 
Salata led the Nittany Lions earning a career high 26 points, and senior Jordan Lomax (West Haven, CT) in his final home game, almost put up a triple double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Junior Bobby Olsen (Florida, NY) also chipped in 16 points for the night.
 
In the first minutes of the game the Nittany Lions and Eagles traded blows with the visitors scoring first and Abington answering.  The Eagles pulled ahead getting tough points in the paint, but the Nittany Lions stayed within two possessions.  A three-ball from Salata tied the game with 8:18 on the clock and another three from junior John Ryan (Warminster, PA) gave the Nittany Lions the lead.  Salata changed momentum, intercepting the pass and taking it down the court for the fast break layup giving Abington the six-point advantage.  With three minutes left in the half Jay Fitzgerald (Philadelphia, PA) pushed the Nittany Lions lead into double digits with his shot from downtown. Abington led by 16 points right before the half thanks to a jump shot from Lomax.
 
The Nittany Lions again smother the Eagles from behind the arc, only allowing 29 percent from three.  Abington used that to their advantage going 6-of-9 from downtown and continued to hold the double-digit lead for much of the second half. Thanks to a huge half from Salata, the Nittany Lions outscored the Eagles 30-15 in the final 10 minutes of the game to advance to their second appearance in the NEAC Final Four.
 
Abington will move on to the North Eastern Athletic Conference Final Four this weekend, being hosted by the number one seed in the conference Morrisville State.