Buena Vista, Va. – The Penn State Harrisburg men's basketball team faced off against the Southern Virginia Knights Saturday February 7th. The Lions Tariq Bennett (Philadelphia, Pa. / Milton Hershey School) produced his season high, but the Blue and White fell just a tad short losing to the Knights 68-64.
Both teams went basket for basket during the first part of the first half as Southern Virginia held just a two point advantage with 12:17 to play in the half. Unfortunately, the Lions struggled to put a stop to the Knights 10-0 ensuing run that proved to be the difference in the first.
SVU led 29-20 at the start of the second half. The Lions were not able to turn things around until Bennett scored three of his team leading 22, which started a 10-2 run that brought Harrisburg within four with 11:30 to play. The Knights pushed right back and were able to extend their lead to eight with 6:15 to play.
The Lions, who have made a habit of hanging in games late, used a Joey Farthing (Lancaster, Pa. / Hempfield) layup followed by another Bennett three to get the Harrisburg within three 58-55 with just 5:43 left in the game. As the clock wound down, the Lions would come up just a bit short as the Knights went 6-7 from the line in the final five minutes and held on for a 68-64 win.
Penn State Harrisburg remains on the road next week when they face off against Marymount Wednesday February 11th, followed by Mary Washington Saturday afternoon on Valentine's Day.