MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Hot shooting and efficiency allowed Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team to roll to a 96-68 victory over conference foe Gallaudet at the Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon and clinch a postseason berth in the upcoming United East Championship Tournament.
Malik Holland had a career day, knocking down eight 3-pointers en route to scoring a game-high 24 points. Nate Curry netted 19 points and Zegary Scott III finished one assist shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine helpers.
After the teams traded buckets to begin the game, the Lions (13-10, 10-4 United East) used an 18-2 run over a span of 5:26 that included 3-balls from Isaiah Eggleston and Scott to take control of the game. Suddenly facing a 14-point deficit, the Bison (1-22, 0-14 United East) tried to stay within striking distance but a Holland triple and a Curry layup stretched the Penn State Harrisburg lead to 29-10 at the 7:42 mark.
Curry and Lance Douglas went back-to-back from beyond the arc to keep the lead at a comfortable margin and Holland beat the first half buzzer with another trey off a Douglas find to make to 46-24 heading into the break.
It was more of the same to begin the second half, with Curry burying a pair of jumpers from 3-point range to push the lead to 54-27 with 17:40 remaining. From there, Holland stepped to the forefront and knocked down six straight 3-balls on as many attempts during a six-minute span to blow the doors off the place as the lead ballooned to 78-51 with 8:49 left to play.
Penn State Harrisburg's bench kept things rolling in the closing minutes, with Robert Bobeck, Kobe Petrovich, and Russel Nie all getting into the scoring act before the final horn sounded.
NOTABLES
- The Lions shot a blistering 53.1 percent from beyond the arc and 54.7 percent from the field.
- Penn State Harrisburg won the rebounding battle 35-30.
- The Lions recorded assists on 29 of their 35 made field goals.
- The home team scored 28 points off 16 Gallaudet turnovers.
- Holland went 8-of-11 from beyond the arc to score a career-high 24 points.
- Curry posted 19 points and a game-high six rebounds in just 19 minutes of action.
- Scott nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 points and a game-high nine assists.
- Douglas had nine points and three assists.
- Chase Robinson had four points and five assists.
- Bobeck and Alex Leiba each pulled down five boards.
- Petrovich, Nie, and Isaiah Milien netted five points apiece off the bench.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions welcome United East foe Penn College to the Capital Union Building for their penultimate regular season contest on Tuesday night.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.