January 19th, 2009
MIDDLETOWN, PA - Penn State Harrisburg men´s basketball team lose a nail bitter against NEAC opponent, D&Youville College Spartans, 75-73 in overtime. This game proved to be a physical match up for the hosting Nittany Lions with the visiting Spartans making a big comeback down by 20 late in the first half.
With the blue and white up by 15 at halftime and with Cole McGuire (Susquenita/Duncannon, PA) and Kenton Alston (Steelton-Highspire/Steelton, PA) continuing their hot shooting from the field, 10-for-14, the Nittany Lions were well on their way to a solid victory. But the Spartans were riding high from their previous day win over Penn State Berks, 78-77, and were looking to make a comeback.
During the second half, the Spartans began to chip away at the Lions lead, led by junior Spartan Romair Parrett after making a three point play to bring his team back within one with 8:21 remaining in regulation. The blue and white were able to fend off D´Youville´s offense and get the lead back to five off a layup by sophomoreJoey Fried (Hershey/Hershey, PA) with 1:56 remaining.
After a Parrett three and a steal then layup by sophomore Spartan Greg Osika the Spartans regain the lead for the first time since 18:24 was remaining in the first half at 67-66. With :06 remaining, Parrett made a costly error by fouling freshman Lion Rhett Sheibley (Northern/Dillsburg, PA) putting him on the line shooting two. Sheibley only was able to hit 1-out-of-2 from the line to put the game into overtime.
This would be the third time the blue and white went into overtime on the season and the first time back to back. With the score squared with :09 remaining in the overtime period, Parrett made up for this previous error in regulation with a steal and game-winning layup to beat the buzzer. Although the outcome of the game came down to a steal followed by a game-winning layup, the Nittany Lions´ foul shooting, 4-for-8, ended up dooming their chances of victory.
Penn State Harrisburg was led by McGuire with 21 points. He shot 7-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe but his fifth foul late in the second half did not allow him to play in the overtime period. McGuire also grabbed two boards, five assists and two steals. Alston went 8-for-12 with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Sophomore Brian Barry (Annville-Cleona/Annville, PA)chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds. Freshman Brain Ongeri (Hershey/Hershey, PA) helped out on the boards with 10 rebounds.
D´Youville College was led by Parrett with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Raysean Johnson was able to come off the bench and score 21 points with five rebounds. Marvin Butler helped out with 10 points and 10 rebounds to ensure the Spartan victory.
The blue and white return to action on Wednesday night when they host Lancaster Bible College. Tip time at Capital Union Building is set for 7:00 P.M.