AURORA, N.Y. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team picked up a valuable 86-75 road victory in conference play over another United East postseason hopeful in Wells to get back to the .500 mark on Friday night, Feb. 3.
Reigning United East Player of the Week Nate Curry recorded a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double, while Zegary Scott III racked up 14 points and dished out seven assists. Chase Robinson added a dozen points, Lance Douglas chipped in with 11, and Isaiah Milien was the fifth player to reach double figures with 10.
The Express (11-9, 6-5 United East) jumped out to a 9-2 lead early in the first half but the Lions (10-10, 7-4 United East) responded with a 9-2 run of their own to pull even after a Scott 3-ball at the 12:35 mark. The teams traded buckets before Milien accounted for six straight points and put the visitors out in front at 19-16 three minutes later.
Penn State Harrisburg was able to stretch the advantage to as many as 10 points with less than minutes left in the opening half thanks to a Douglas jumper from beyond the arc but the home team clawed back and eventually cut the deficit to four at 44-40 heading into halftime.
The Express made another charge early in the second half and eventually pulled back in front 54-51 at the 16:26 mark but the Lions responded with a 6-0 run that included the rare 4-point play from Milien. Back-to-back triples from Scott and Douglas coupled with five straight points from Curry pushed the lead to nine before Alex Leiba converted multiple layups to make it 73-61 with 9:05 remaining.
One last gasp from Wells proved strong enough to cut the deficit to five with 5:22 left to play but Robinson stopped the spurt with a trey and the Penn State Harrisburg defense clamped down and held the home team to just four points in the game's final 4:45.
NOTABLES
- The Lions got off 13 more field goal attempts than Wells and shot 48.6 percent from the floor.
- Penn State Harrisburg won the rebounding battle 44-31.
- The Lions scored 18 points off 12 Wells turnovers.
- Penn State Harrisburg scored 46 points in the paint.
- The Penn State Harrisburg bench outscored the Express reserves by a massive 42-7 margin.
- Curry's latest double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds) was his seventh of the season.
- Scott dished out seven assists to go along with 14 points.
- Milien finished with 10 points and six boards off the bench.
- Douglas pulled down five rebounds to go along with 11 points in a reserve role.
- Robinson chipped in with the bench scoring thanks to his 12 points.
- Leiba grabbed eight rebounds and added five points.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions wrap up their weekend road trip to New York at Morrisville on Saturday afternoon.
STAY CONNECTED
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