BUENA VISTA, Va. – Penn State Harrisburg overcame a 15-point deficit and pushed Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) opponent Southern Virginia to overtime before falling to the hometown Knights 79-76 in the extra session on Wednesday night, Jan. 8.

Four Lions reached the double-digit scoring mark and freshman point guard Marquese Daniels (Philadelphia, Pa. / Philadelphia Electric & Technology Charter) was the Blue & White's leading-scorer with 22 points.  The frosh also collected a team-high five rebounds.

Freshman Winton Lyle (Washington, D.C. / Bullis School) scored the game's first points to put the visitors up 3-0 at the 19:21 mark.  The Lions didn't hold an advantage again until 2:47 remained in regulation.

While the score remained close throughout the first half, Southern Virginia took its largest lead of the opening session when Chris Baker connected from beyond the arc to make it 25-19 Knights at the 3:44 mark. 

Final minute free throws from Penn State Harrisburg senior captain Will Doyle (Franklin, Va. / Tidewater Academy), junior Joey Farthing (Lancaster, Pa. / Hempfield) and sophomore Jared Deibler (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown Area) cut the deficit to two at 31-29 at the break.

Following a layup by senior captain Kenny Stone (Philadelphia, Pa. / Scotland) early in the second half, Southern Virginia went on an 11-3 run over the next 4:59 to put the home team up 48-36 with 13:07 left to play.

A Wesley Evans jump shot gave the Knights their largest lead of the night at 54-39 with just under ten minutes remaining.

From there, Penn State Harrisburg started to chip away.  A Jamaal Dubose (Bowie, Md. / Bowie) cut the deficit to single digits at 56-48 with 7:14 left in regulation and a Daniels old-fashioned three-point play drew the Lions to within five moments later.   

A layup by sophomore Rayshaun Anderson-Brown (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle) cut Southern Virginia's advantage to just one with 4:10 remaining and four-straight points from Daniels made it 63-62 Penn State Harrisburg; the team's first lead since the game's opening moments.

After the Knights reclaimed the lead, Doyle knocked down a game-tying three-pointer with 1:11 left to play.  Neither team was able to break the stalemate in the final minute of regulation.

The Blue & White fell behind early in the extra session when the Knights' Preston Eaton hit a jumper from downtown to make it 73-68 at the 3:36 mark. 

From there, the Lions cut the deficit to two points on three separate occasions but failed to get the key stop and basket needed to take the lead or extend the contest.

In addition to Daniels' career-best output, Doyle added 17 points and a team-high five rebounds.  Lyle also grabbed five boards to go along with his ten tallies.  Stone was the fourth Penn State Harrisburg player to reach the double-digit mark with 13 points.

The Lions outshot Southern Virginia from the field and from the free throw line but the Knights outshot the Blue & White from three-point range.  The home team also outrebounded Penn State Harrisburg 41-32.

The loss dropped the Lions to 5-7 on the year and 2-3 in league play.  After starting the year 2-1 against CAC competition, Penn State Harrisburg is facing adversity for the first time this season.  The Blue & White will look to put an end to its recent two-game skid when the men host the 15th-ranked team in the nation in Christopher Newport on Saturday, Jan. 11.   

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