MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team used a strong second half to secure an 83-67 victory at the Capital Union Building and complete the season sweep of conference foe Penn College on Wednesday night, Jan. 24.
Thanks to a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double, Nate Curry became the program's all-time leading rebounder with 813 for his career, while Malik Holland netted a team-high 18 points off the bench. Isaiah Milien scored a career-high 17 points, Alex Leiba added 11 points, and Donyae Baylor-Carroll stuffed the stat sheet with five points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and five steals.
Leading 36-32 early in the second half, Penn State Harrisburg (17-3, 7-0 United East) put together a 10-4 spurt capped by a Milien 3-ball to push the advantage to double digits for the first time with 15:10 left to play. After Penn College (6-13, 3-4 United East) cut the deficit to eight, the Lions strung together five straight buckets from Holland, Curry, Milien, and Leiba to quickly stretch the lead to 60-40 at the 11:51 mark.
The Wildcats netted the next two but Holland halted any momentum with another triple. The visitors managed to pull to within 14 with 5:58 left but a Milien layup and back-to-back buckets from Leiba essentially put things out of reach in the final minutes.
Penn State Harrisburg struck first with a backdoor layup from Baylor-Carroll to begin the game but the visitors responded with eight straight points before pulling ahead 14-8 at the 13:51 mark. Head coach Don Friday used a timeout to settle his team down and the Lions responded by pulling even on a Curry layup off a Baylor-Carroll find before taking a 36-31 lead into halftime.
NOTABLES
- Penn State Harrisburg shot 47.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from beyond the arc.
- Penn College shot just 13 percent from distance, going 3-of-23 from 3-point range.
- The Lions finished with a slim 38-35 edge in the rebounding department.
- Penn State Harrisburg recorded assists on 25 of the team's 30 field goals.
- The Penn State Harrisburg bench outscored the Wildcat reserves 26-10.
- Curry recorded his seventh double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, passing former standout Kenton Alston to become the program's all-time leading rebounder (813) in the process.
- Holland buried five 3-balls en route to scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench.
- Milien netted a career-high 17 points and added three rebounds and three assists.
- Leiba finished with 11 points, six assists, five boards, and a pair of blocks.
- Baylor-Carroll did a little bit of everything, tallying five points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and five steals.
- Lance Douglas chipped in with seven points, two boards, two assists, and a pair of steals.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions continue United East play when they travel to conference foe Penn State Berks on Saturday afternoon.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.