LANCASTER, Pa. - A week after falling to Lancaster Bible in the regular season finale, Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team returned the favor by knocking off the top-seeded Chargers 72-57 on their home floor in the semifinal round of the United East Championship Tournament on Tuesday night, punching its ticket to Saturday's conference title game in the process.


The Lions (17-10) used a balanced attack on the offensive end, led by a dozen points each from Jordan Spencer and Kevin Lucas Jr. Antwone George flirted with a double-double, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Dylan Moore tallied 11 points and six boards. David Reed IV chipped in with nine points off the bench and Chris Henderson Jr. finished with seven points and six rebounds. 


Penn State Harrisburg was excellent on the defensive end as well, holding the conference's top scoring offense to a season-low 57 points—well below its season average of more than 90 points per game entering Tuesday's contest. The visitors were especially impressive in the second half, holding the regionally-ranked Chargers (20-7) to just 21 points on 19.1 percent shooting from the field after the break. 


After trailing by as many as 10 points in the opening half, the Lions cut the deficit to 36-29 heading into the locker room thanks to a deep, buzzer-beating 3-ball from Lucas. He added a jumper early in the second half to pull his team to within five and after an LBC old-fashioned 3-point play on the ensuing possession, Penn State Harrisburg put together a game-changing 15-0 run across the next five and a half minutes.


The spurt included a monster one-handed slam from Henderson that cut the deficit to 39-37 at the 15:34 mark and a pair of George free throws a minute and a half later put the visitors out in front for the first time. Elija Eccleston knocked down a corner triple and George converted two more from the charity stripe to make it 46-39 with 13:08 left to play. 


Moore added back-to-back jumpers to stretch the lead to nine at the 11:53 mark and spark another 8-0 run for the Lions that culminated with four straight points from George that pushed the advantage to 54-41 with 10:05 remaining. The Chargers made a mini-push and cut the deficit to eight with a 3-ball at the 9:19 mark but Reed answered with an and-1 layup and free throw on the other end to bump the lead back to double digits with 8:46 left. 


Moore buried a 3-pointer from the wing, Reed converted a layup off a Moore assist and the Penn State Harrisburg lead ballooned to 16 with 6:48 remaining. Lancaster Bible made one last push to pull to within 11 at the 4:17 mark but the Lions responded with three points and three straight defensive stops before the home team was forced to foul down the stretch. Henderson and George combined to convert three free throws and Eccleston added a late jumper to seal the victory and a date in the United East Championship Game.


NOTABLES
- The Lions held Lancaster Bible to 31.7 percent shooting from the floor on just 41 attempts.
- The visitors forced 19 turnovers, scoring 22 points off LBC miscues. 
- Penn State Harrisburg won the rebounding battle 36-23. 
- The Lions shot 48.3 percent from the floor in the second half. 
- Penn State Harrisburg's bench outscored the Charger reserves 39-19. 
- Spencer finished with 12 a team-high 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
- Lucas knocked down a trio of 3-balls en route to scoring a team-high 12 points. He also swiped three steals.
- Moore tallied 11 points and six rebounds. 
- George nearly recorded a double-double with 11 points and eight boards. 
- Henderson racked up seven points, six rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals. 
- Reed chipped in with nine points off the bench. 


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions travel to Cairn for the United East Championship Game on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.


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