Penn State Harrisburg 80, Morrisville State 65

Harrisburg Starters

Baylor-Carroll, Haynes, Scott III, Curry, Daniels

Morrisville Starters

Miller, Brennan, Dennis, Montalvo, Beames

How It Happened

Penn State Harrisburg clinched the 2019-20 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Men's Basketball Regular Season Championship and home-court advantage for the upcoming conference playoff tournament with an 80-65 victory at Morrisville State on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22.

For the second time in as many days, Donyae Baylor-Carroll poured in a game-high 31 points. He also added seven rebounds and five assists. Dylan Daniels also impressed with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Haynes was the third player to reach double digits with 10 points, Zegary Scott III dished out six assists and Nate Curry and Pedro Rodriguez grabbed six boards apiece.

Trailing 36-32 to begin the second half, the Lions (18-7, 14-2 NEAC) turned things up on the defensive end and eventually pulled ahead 44-42 at the 16:20 mark thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Haynes. Baylor-Carroll knocked down a 3-ball of his own on the next possession, prompting the Mustangs (15-10, 12-4 NEAC) to burn a timeout.

The Blue & White went right back to work after the stoppage and eventually stretched the lead to 10 with 13:05 remaining following a pair of Baylor-Carroll jumpers from beyond the arc and a Haynes free throw.

Morrisville State stopped the bleeding with a jump shot but the home team had no answer for Baylor-Carroll, as the shifty guard knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers and pushed the advantage to 63-49 with 8:57 left to play.

The Mustangs cut the deficit to 10 on three separate occasions in the final eight minutes but the visitors had the answer each time. Daniels buried a couple of jumpers, Curry and Haynes drained 3-pointers, Scott III converted a pair of free throws and Daniels put an exclamation point on the scoring with a dunk that resulted in an old-fashioned 3-point play in the closing seconds.

Inside the Numbers

- The Lions shot 48.4 percent from the floor and 35.1 percent from beyond the arc.

- Morrisville State shot 35.1 percent from the field and just 15.4 percent from 3-point range.

- Penn State Harrisburg was 9-of-12 from the foul line, while the Mustangs went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

- The rebounding battle was even at 38-38.

- Donyae Baylor-Carroll was electric, scoring a game-high 31 points on 50 percent shooting, including seven 3-balls. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had five assists and swiped two steals.

- Dylan Daniels recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting and a game-high 13 boards.

- Chris Haynes knocked down a trio of triples en route to netting 10 points.

- Zegary Scott III dished out six assists to go along with six points.

- Nate Curry posted five points, six rebounds and three assists.

- Pedro Rodriguez added five points and six boards off the bench.

- Kevin Dennis led the way for Morrisville State with 18 points.

Playoff Picture

With the victory, the Blue & White secured the conference's regular season championship. Penn State Harrisburg will host the final four of the NEAC Playoff Tournament at the Capital Union Building beginning on Friday night, Feb. 28.

Who's Next?

The Lions will face the winner of the NEAC Tournament's First-Round matchup between Morrisville State and Cazenovia at the Capital Union Building on Friday night, Feb. 28.

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