CAZENOVIA, N.Y. (January 9, 2011) - Four players finished in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the Penn State Berks men's basketball team dropped a 98-83 decision to Cazenovia in a North Eastern Athletic Conference contest on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats moved to 3-9 overall and 3-3 in the NEAC, while the loss drops the Nittany Lions to 4-8 and 4-3 in the conference.
Thomas Smith exploded for a season-high 23 points off of 10-for-17 shooting from the floor. The freshman center also had five steals and grabbed eight rebounds.
Connor Hough followed with 16 points and MICHAEL PERONE added 13. SHAWN GREEN finished with 10 points to round out the Nittany Lions in double digits. Green and Nathaniel Weldon each recorded seven rebounds and DONTEZ REID dished out five assists.
The Wildcats were led by Bryant Winans' game-high 21 points. Ryan Howdownes and Darnell Sampson each scored 19 points and Cameron Smith chipped in with 14.
Cazenovia took a 16-15 lead with 9:54 remaining in the first half and would not look back from there. The biggest lead for the Wildcats was 18 points, but the Lions were able to narrow the lead to nine with 58 seconds left in the contest.
Both teams were on fire in the second half as the Wildcats shot 61% from the floor. The Lions were 48% after struggling in the first half 35% shooting.
Penn State Berks will be back in action next weekend when they host Wells and Keuka in Beaver Community Center. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m.
