MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – With an 84-61 victory over St. Elizabeth at a packed Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 24, Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team won its third United East Championship in the last four years.
Donyae Baylor-Carroll was named the United East Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) after recording his second straight double-double with 19 points and a career-high 10 steals to go along with seven assists. Nate Curry netted a game-high 21 points with six rebounds and four assists. Isaiah Milien had 14 points and four steals, while Isaiah Eggleston added a dozen points off the bench.
The Lions (24-4) pulled ahead by 22 midway through the second half following a straightaway 3-ball from Baylor-Carroll but the Eagles (18-11) responded with a 9-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 13 with 9:41 left to play. From there, Baylor-Carroll sparked a one-man run with a layup through traffic before swiping one of his double-digit steals and laying one in on the other end to push the lead back to 17 at the 8:25 mark.
After an Alex Leiba tip in made it 65-46, Curry buried a triple off a Lance Douglas feed and Baylor-Carroll sank a fallaway trifecta the next time down to effectively put things out of reach with 6:24 remaining. Milien converted a breakaway layup off an outlet pass from Baylor-Carroll and Curry knocked down another jumper to keep the lead above 20 with less than five minutes to go.
The Volt Division champions raced out to an 8-0 advantage to begin the game and stretched the lead to double digits for the first time when Baylor-Carroll connected on his first 3-ball of the contest at the 13:01 mark. An Eggleston layup off a Curry feed at the 8:23 mark gave the Lions their largest lead of the first half at 27-9 before the Skye Division champs cut the deficit to eight with 5:45 left until the break.
Penn State Harrisburg regrouped, however, and closed out the half with a 9-2 run that pushed the advantage to 36-21 entering the locker room.
NOTABLES
- Penn State Harrisburg has won three conference championships in the last four years (2020, 2022, 2024).
- With the victory, Penn State Harrisburg matched the program record with 24 wins in a single season.
- The Lions recorded assists on 26 of their 32 field goals.
- Penn State Harrisburg scored 39 points off 26 St. Elizabeth turnovers.
- The Lions matched the single-game program record with 24 steals.
- Baylor-Carroll posted his second straight double-double en route to earning United East Tournament MVP honors. He finished with 19 points, a career-high 10 steals, seven assists, and four rebounds.
- Curry netted a game-high 21 points, knocking down four 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. With his scoring total, he moved into third place all-time in program history.
- Milien scored 14 points and swiped four steals.
- Eggleston provided the spark off the bench with a dozen points, four steals, and three rebounds. Kyle Rhoden had five rebounds in a reserve role.
- Leiba grabbed a team-high nine boards to go along with six points. Malik Holland also added six points off the bench.
- Douglas finished with four points, seven assists, three steals, and three rebounds.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions are off to their third NCAA Tournament in four seasons. Penn State Harrisburg's first-round opponent and location will be revealed during the men's basketball selection show on NCAA.com on Monday 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.