Visiting Morrisville State College men’s basketball struggled Sunday afternoon against the reigning southern division champion, and as a result had their 12-game win streak snapped, as host Penn State Harrisburg collected a 70-58 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory in Middletown.
The Mustangs, who sit at the top of the conference with a 9-2 record, drop to 15-5 overall on the season. Harrisburg improves to 10-12 overall, 7-4 in conference action.
Rhamel Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) and Jordan Prior (Cortland, N.Y.) were the lone Mustangs to reach double digits, netting 11 and 10 respectively in the Morrisville State efforts. Prior added three assists to his tallies, while teammate Andrew Lucio (Solvay, N.Y.) registered nine points. Mickey Davis (Syracuse, N.Y.) posted a team high five rebounds, leading the defensive efforts with four blocked shots and four steals on the day.
William Doyle drained 7-of-8 shots from long range to lead the Nittany Lions with 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and assisted four.
Harrisburg raced out to an early 7-0 lead over the first three minutes of the contest before a three by Jailaan Kinsey (Syracuse, N.Y.) at 16:15 put the Mustangs on the board.
The Nittany Lions maintained at least a six-point advantage over Morrisville State throughout the remainder of the half, until Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) drained one from beyond the arc, sparking the Mustangs to go on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to tie it at 25 with just over two minutes remaining in the period.
Harrisburg quickly responded, as Doyle drained two straight from downtown, and Ethan Strayer another as the clock wound down to claim the 34-26 lead at the break.
Doyle picked up where he left off early in the second, nailing another from long range to increase the Nittany Lion lead to 13, but Morrisville State responded with an 8-0 run to cut the margin to just five with 16:30 to go. As luck would have it, that was the closest the Mustangs would get, as Harrisburg regained the double digit lead, and held on for the conference win.
Morrisville State returns to the court Wednesday, hosting Wells College at 7 p.m.