GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team got its 2013-14 season underway on Friday night, Nov. 15 by facing DeSales in the opening round of the 23rd annual Gettysburg College tip-off tournament.  The Lions were fast out of the gate and led for much of the first half before the Bulldogs took advantage of some Blue & White foul trouble after the break.  In the end, DeSales did enough to keep Harrisburg at bay en route to a 72-47 opening night victory.

Sophomore Jared Deibler (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown Area) was Penn State Harrisburg's high-scorer with nine points.  He also added five rebounds.  Sophomore Joey Farthing (Lancaster, Pa. / Hempfield) and junior Joshua Johnson (Franklin, Va. / Southampton) added six points each.

Four Lions finished the game with four fouls and two others were whistled for three, making it difficult for Penn State Harrisburg to find consistency within its lineup as the game wore on.  The Bulldogs got to the charity stripe 41 times compared to just 18 times for the Blue & White.

Junior forward Kevin Icker (Scranton, Pa. / Scranton Prep) netted the Lions' first points of the season less than a minute into the contest.  Senior captain Will Doyle's (Franklin, Va. / Tidewater Academy) three-pointer at the 16:22 mark gave the Blue & White a 9-4 advantage and freshman Winton Lyle (Washington, D.C. / Bullis School) connected from beyond the arc to give Penn State Harrisburg a 12-5 lead with 15:17 left in the first half.

Johnson got into the scoring act when his trifecta upped the Lions' cushion to 15-7 at the 14-minute mark.  Once the men reached the 18-point mark, however, their offense stalled as Penn State Harrisburg went five minutes without scoring a point and saw an 18-15 advantage evaporate and become a 25-18 deficit with 5:52 remaining in the first half. 

The Lions were resilient, clawing back and drawing even at 28 apiece when Farthing connected from downtown at the 1:54 mark before regaining the lead at 30-28 when sophomore Jamaal Dubose (Bowie, Md. / Bowie) converted a layup in the paint with 1:24 left in the first half.

Trailing 33-30 at the break, Penn State Harrisburg kept it close after halftime and Deibler's old-fashioned three-point play drew the Lions within two at 41-39 with 13:58 remaining in regulation.  Unfortunately, that's as close as the Blue & White would get the rest of the way.

Over the next 5:32, DeSales went on a decisive 14-2 run.  Penn State Harrisburg junior Alberto De Los Santos (Enola, Pa. / East Pennsboro) tried to thwart the momentum with a three-pointer at the 7:23 mark but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs finished the game on a 17-3 run.

DeSales' strong second half effort spoiled Don Friday's Penn State Harrisburg coaching debut.  The Bulldogs outscored the Blue & White 39-17 in the second frame, dropping the Lions to 0-1.

"We started the game with good flow," said Friday.  "Once we lost the tempo of the game our squad never regained the poise to direct things in our favor.  We have to understand how we can help each other in these situations and we were demolished on the glass.  But we will get back to work to sure up those areas."

The Bulldogs outrebounded Penn State Harrisburg 45-26 and DeSales shot 43.2 percent from the field compared to 27.1 percent by the Lions.  The Blue & White forced 20 Bulldog turnovers in defeat.

Thanks to Elizabethtown's 82-55 win over the host school Friday night, DeSales moves on to face the Blue Jays in the tournament's championship matchup tomorrow evening while the Lions will take on Gettysburg in the consolation game.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. 

Despite the opening loss, Friday was confident that his young squad will bounce back as the year goes on, beginning with the Lions' matchup with the Bullets on Saturday afternoon. 

"We will draw on our players' resiliency to build on the many positives surrounding our program," he said.