MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball counteracted a 3-point barrage with timely rebounding and a gritty defensive effort in a 59-54 victory over Cairn in the quarterfinal round of the United East Championship Tournament at the Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22.


Jordan Spencer turned in one of the best efforts of his young career, recording a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Eggleston finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards, while Lance Douglas was the third player to reach double figures with 10 points. 


The Lions (18-8) got out to an 11-2 advantage in the early going before back-to-back 3-pointers from Dylan Moore made it 17-5 with 10:12 left in the first half. The home team took its largest lead of the day when Eggleston finished a layup off a Chris Henderson feed to make it 21-6 at the 7:36 mark. 


The Highlanders (13-14) cut the deficit to single digits late in the half but Eggleston and Spencer answered with consecutive layups in the final 35 seconds to give Penn State Harrisburg a comfortable 34-21 lead heading into the break.


Penn State Harrisburg continued to hold a double-digit lead as late as the 11:09 mark of the second half following an offensive rebound and putback from Irby Hunter but Cairn used the 3-ball to chip away and eventually buried the team's fifth of the half pull to within two points with two minutes left to play. 


Douglas answered with a tough driving layup with 1:28 remaining and the Highlanders were unable to connect on a pair of good looks from 3-point range in the final minute. Spencer was fouled twice in the final 24 seconds and went 4-for-4 from the line to keep the visitors drawing any closer than 57-54 with 18 seconds left. Spencer converted his final pair of attempts with 10 seconds remaining to put things out of reach and seal the hard-fought playoff win.


NOTABLES
- Penn State Harrisburg won the rebounding battle 48-31.
- The Lions shot 84.2 percent (16-of-19) from the free throw line. 
- Penn State Harrisburg racked up 19 second chance points and scored 28 points in the paint. 
- Cairn shot a blistering 48 percent (12-of-25) from beyond the arc but the Lions held the visitors to just 10 points in the paint. 
- Spencer recorded his third double-double of the season with a career-high 19 points and a dozen rebounds. He also finished 11-of-12 from the foul line. 
- Eggleston was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. 
- Douglas posted 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals. 
- Henderson added seven points, seven boards and three assists.
- Moore finished with eight points off the bench.
- Larry Onabanwo dished out a game-high five assists. 


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions will host No. 6 seed Notre Dame of Maryland in the semifinal round of the United East Championship Tournament on Tuesday night. 


STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.