UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team finished off a promising weekend at the JCU Classic hosted by John Carroll with a 75-64 non-conference victory over Pitt Bradford on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 21.
Chris Henderson Jr. led the way with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Dylan Moore netted a game-high 18 points to go along with three steals. Jordan Spencer nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with eight points and a game-best 14 rebounds, while Andre Thomas III was the third player to reach double figures with 10 points.
The Lions (6-6) withstood an early 3-point barrage from Pitt Bradford (6-5) and eventually pulled ahead for the first time thanks to a Moore layup that made it 9-8 at the 17:21 mark of the opening half. The bigs got involved, with Maurice Davis and David Reed IV combining for 10 early points before a Moore 3-ball stretched the advantage to 26-16 a the 11:15 mark.
Penn State Harrisburg put together a game-changing 10-0 run that began with a Henderson free throw and ended with a 3-pointer from Justin Leddo with 6:35 left before the break before a pair of Thomas free throws gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 40-21.
The Panthers used a couple of quick triples late in the first half to pull to within 11 at halftime and built on that momentum to begin the second, eventually cutting the deficit to a single possession at 57-54 with 10:12 remaining. An Isaiah Milien 3-pointer helped halt the Pitt Bradford run and a jam from Moore in transition off followed by another Moore layup off a steal from Spencer pushed the lead back to a more-comfortable 65-56 at the 6:01 mark.
The Lions stretched the advantage back to double digits thanks to a Thomas layup on the baseline that sparked a 9-0 spurt and included buckets from Spencer and Antwone George. By the time the Panthers finally ended the Penn State Harrisburg run, they found themselves trailing by 16 with less than two minutes to play.
NOTABLES
- The Lions held a Pitt Bradford offense averaging nearly 90 points per game to just 64 points.
- Penn State Harrisburg dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 49-33.
- The Lions scored 27 second chance points and 23 points off turnovers.
- Penn State Harrisburg held the Panthers to just six free throw attempts on the day.
- The Lions took care of the basketball, turning it over just six times.
- Henderson recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
- Spencer stuffed the stat sheets with eight points, a game-high 14 rebounds, a game-best four assists and two
steals.
- Thomas added 10 points and a pair of assists.
- Davis and Reed combined for 11 points and 11 boards.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions face another tough non-conference test when they host No. 19 York (Pa.) at the Capital Union Building on Tuesday night, Dec. 30.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube using the handle @pshbgathletics.
