MEDFORD, Mass. - Penn State Harrisburg's men's basketball team nearly pulled off the March Madness upset of No. 12 Tufts, narrowly falling 65-60 to the host Jumbos in NCAA Tournament First Round action at Cousens Gymnasium on Friday night, March 6.
Chris Henderson Jr. led the way with a game-high 20 points on 58.3 percent shooting from the field, while Jordan Spencer scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds. Andre Thomas III was the third player to reach double figures with 11 points and Dylan Moore finished with seven points and a team-high six boards.
Making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons, Penn State Harrisburg (18-11) held the nationally-ranked Jumbos (21-5) well below their 80.1 points per game scoring average but struggled with the home team's size advantage, as Tufts outrebounded the Lions 42-30 and scored 30 points in the paint.
After leading early and remaining within striking distance for much of the night, Penn State Harrisburg fell behind by 13 with 5:07 left to play before rallying in the final minutes and using a 13-3 run to make it a one-possession game with 1:16 remaining. Moore got the spurt started with a layup, Thomas netted four points during the span, Henderson converted an old-fashion 3-point play and Spencer knocked down a straightaway 3-ball to pull to within 59-56 with 86 seconds to play.
Tufts stretched the lead back to five thanks to a pair of free throws with less than a minute remaining but the Lions answered again when Spencer converted a layup in the lane to cut the deficit to 61-58 with 48 seconds left. After two more Jumbo free throws, Thomas went coast to coast and laid one in to make it a one-possession game again with 13 seconds to play. The hosts eventually broke the ensuing press and added one last layup with five seconds remaining to avoid Penn State Harrisburg's upset bid and escape their home floor with the slim victory.
The Lions jumped out to an early 4-0 advantage behind jumpers from Henderson and Moore but Tufts used a couple of 3-pointers to pull ahead at the 15:08 mark. Each time the Jumbos threatened to push their lead to double digits, the visitors responded with timely triples from Thomas, Henderson and Kevin Lucas Jr. to keep it a one-possession game.
The home team lead 27-21 at the break and led by as many as 14 points at the 16:01 mark of the second half but Penn State Harrisburg refused to go away, trimming the deficit to four following a Spencer free throw with 11:22 left to play. When Tufts slowly built its lead back up to 13 with little more than five minutes left, it appeared the hosts were in control until the Lions roared back with one last push that nearly resulted in an opening-round upset.
NOTABLES
- Friday's contest was Penn State Harrisburg's seventh NCAA Tournament contest in program history. The Lions are 3-4 all-time in NCAA play.
- The five-point loss was the program's slimmest margin of defeat in an NCAA Tournament game.
- Penn State Harrisburg forced 13 turnovers and scored 14 points off Tufts miscues.
- Henderson led the way with a game-high 20 points on 58.3 percent shooting from the field.
- Spencer finished with 16 points and five rebounds.
- Thomas tallied 11 points.
- Moore netted seven and finished with a team-high six rebounds and three steals.
- Lucas knocked down a pair of 3-balls to finish with six points off the bench.
WHO'S NEXT?
Penn State Harrisburg completed the 2025-26 campaign with an 18-11 record. The Lions made their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing their fourth United East Championship.
STAY CONNECTED
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