Gwynedd Mercy 86, Penn State Harrisburg 77

Harrisburg Starters

Baylor-Carroll, Scott, DaBella, Alliyu, Williams

GMU Starters

Spencer, Seigafuse, Cubbage, Wolfe, Dunham

How It Happened

Penn State Harrisburg suffered its first loss of the young season, falling to Gwynedd Mercy 86-77 on the opening night of the 2018 Widener Tip-Off Tournament For Autism Awareness on Friday night, Nov. 16.

The game was closely contested in the early going, with the Griffins (3-0) jumping out to an slim advantage in the opening minutes before the Blue & White (2-1) rallied to cut the deficit to one thanks to a Chris Bing free throw at the 11:54 mark.

The Lions drew even a few possessions later when Khalil Williams converted a pair of foul shots before the team took a 19-18 lead when Bradley DaBella buried a 3-pointer off an Ibn-Haneef Nelson assist with 9:10 left in the first half.

Trailing 30-28 with 3:09 remaining in the opening half, Harrisburg watched the momentum slip away when Gwynedd Mercy reeled off 13 points in a row before heading into the break.

The Blue & White tried to claw back in the second half but the Griffins' stellar shooting from beyond the arc fended off any threat of a Penn State Harrisburg comeback. Trailing by more than 20 with nine minutes remaining, the Lions battled and eventually cut the deficit to single digits with less than two minutes left but the rally proved too little too late.

Inside the Numbers

- Gwynedd Mercy shot a stellar 58.3 percent from the floor, while the Blue & White shot at a 40.7 percent clip from the field.

- GMU shot a stout 52.4 percent from 3-point territory, while Penn State Harrisburg shot just 19.4 percent from distance.

- Harrisburg finished with a 39-27 advantage on the glass.

- The Griffins racked up 13 steals and scored 31 points off Blue & White turnovers.

- Foul trouble proved costly for the Lions, as three players fouled out and another was whistled for four.

- The GMU bench outscored the Penn State Harrisburg reserves 35-27.

- Khalil Williams scored a season-high 22 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. He pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.

- Donyae Baylor-Carroll netted 14 points to go along with a pair of assists, two rebounds and one steal.

- Ibn-Haneef Nelson was the third Harrisburg player to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 12 tallies off the bench. His three assists also led the team.

- Bola Alliyu grabbed six boards and dropped seven points.

- Rich Dunham led the way for the Griffins, scoring a game-high 29 points on 69.2 percent shooting.

Who's Next?

The Lions will play in the consolation game of Widener's Tip-Off Tournament For Autism Awareness against Penn State Berks on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 17. Berks fell to the hosts 80-51 in the tourney's second matchup on Friday night.

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