COBLESKILL, N.Y. - Maybe it's the trip. Maybe it's the location. Maybe it's the competition. Whatever it is, it hasn't been kind to Penn State Harrisburg to this point of the season. For the second time in a one-week span, the Lions dropped a road contest to a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponent from New York. The Blue and White were upset 69-64 by SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday, Jan. 19.
Senior Thristan Lundy (Philadelphia, Pa. / Samuel Fels) shot 50 percent from the field on his way to a 14-point, five steal, four rebound performance for the Lions while fellow senior Jordan Gatchell (Manheim, Pa. / Manheim Central) netted 13 and grabbed a team-high seven boards.
While neither team gave itself much breathing room in the early going, Harrisburg took its largest lead of the first half at the 11:19 mark when sophomore Kevin Icker (Scranton, Pa. / Scranton Prep) knocked down a jumper to make it 18-12.
But Cobleskill wasn't ready to the let the visitors take full control and instead fought back to the tune of a 19-4 run over the next six and a half minutes.
Penn State Harrisburg trailed the Tigers 37-32 at halftime but the Lions swung the momentum back in their favor after the break.
Trailing 41-32 with 18:21 left in the game, the Blue and White responded with a 19-6 run that culminated in a Lundy jump shot five minutes later.
Harrisburg took its largest lead of the afternoon, a seven-point advantage, when sophomore sharpshooter Ethan Strayer (East Petersburg, Pa. / Hempfield) connected from beyond the arc with 8:28 remaining in regulation.
Unfortunately, the Lions went cold offensively and scored just three more times in the game's final eight minutes.
On the other side, Cobleskill finished the game on a decisive 20-8 run that earned the Tigers just their fourth victory of the year and handed the visitors their tenth loss of the season and just their second in league play.
Despite outshooting the Tigers from three-point land, the Blue and White's fate was sealed thanks to being outrebounded 53-29. Cobleskill shot 47.3 percent from the field compared to Harrisburg's 33.8 percentage.
Lundy finished as the Lions' high-point man. In addition to the output from the team's senior duo, sophomore Alberto De Los Santos (Enola, Pa. / East Pennsboro) added nine points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Junior Will Doyle (Franklin, Va. / Tidewater Academy) and freshman Arick Sodini (Manalapan, N.J. / St. John Vianney) netted eight points apiece while Strayer chipped-in with six tallies off the bench.
The defeat dropped the Lions' conference record to 5-2 on the year. Harrisburg fell to second place in the NEAC's South Division standings when Penn State Berks topped Cazenovia earlier the same day to improve to 6-1 in league play.
The Blue and White gets over a week off before next taking the court on Sunday, Jan. 27 when the Lions hit the road to face divisional foe Penn State Abington.