MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team returned to conference play with a comfortable 74-50 victory over United East foe Penn State Abington at the Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 3.


Jordan Spencer led the way with his second double-double in as many outing, finishing with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Elija Eccleston provided the spark off the bench with 11 points and four assists, while Dylan Moore nearly recorded his own double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds and nine points. 


Penn State Harrisburg (7-7, 3-0 United East) opened the contest with an 8-0 spurt, powered by six points from Spencer, including an old-fashioned 3-point play and a jumper from beyond the arc. The hometown Lions pushed the advantage to as many as nine in the opening minutes thanks to a Moore 3-ball at the 14:19 mark but Penn State Abington (1-12, 1-2 United East) eventually cut the deficit to 13-11 with 11:23 remaining before the break.


Kevin Lucas Jr. and Isaiah Milien knocked down triples to slow the visitors' momentum and a Chris Henderson Jr. jumper bumped the lead back to nine with 6:37 left before halftime. The home team put together a quick 7-2 burst to end the half that saw Maurice Davis convert back-to-back layups and Henderson bury a trey to make it 32-22 heading into the locker room.


Penn State Harrisburg kept the visitors at arm's length to begin the second half, using its trademark stingy defense to stifle any Penn State Abington comeback attempt. On the other end, the hometown Lions used a pair of 3-pointers from Milien to pull ahead by 20 for the first time at 53-33 with 9:34 left to play. 


Eccleston followed it up with five straight points to stretch the lead to 25 at the 8:35 mark and Spencer put an exclamation point on the offensive effort with a two-handed slam in transition off a Lucas feed following a Henderson steal on the other end. 


NOTABLES
- Penn State Harrisburg dominated the glass, finishing with a 46-27 rebounding advantage.
- The Penn State Harrisburg bench outscored the Penn State Abington reserves 34-8.
- Penn State Harrisburg scored 27 points off 18 Penn State Abington turnovers.
- The home team racked up 36 points in the paint. 
- Spencer recorded his second straight double-double with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. 
- Moore stuffed the stat sheet with a game-high 11 rebounds, nine points, five steals and four assists. 
- Eccleston turned in the best performance of his young career, finishing with 11 points and four assists off the bench. 
- Milien also provided a spark off the bench, tallying nine points in 15 reserve minutes. 


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions continue conference play when they host United East foe Penn State Berks on Wednesday 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.