MBB Senior Day 2017
Tyler Schueck
79
Penn State Abington PSA 9-14, 8-10 NEAC
84
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 6-16, 6-12 NEAC
Penn State Abington PSA
9-14, 8-10 NEAC
79
Final
84
Penn State Berks PSBM
6-16, 6-12 NEAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Penn State Abington PSA 44 35 79
Penn State Berks PSBM 41 43 84

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's basketball rallies late for win over Penn State Abington

READING, PA - The Penn State Berks men's basketball team used a late rally and held on down the stretch to keep its slim playoff hopes alive in an 84-79 victory over Penn State Abington in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) South Division contest on Tuesday night.

Berks (6-16, 6-12 NEAC) will need to win their two remaining games and receive some help to jump the teams ahead of them in the playoff standings. The top three teams in each division earn berths to the postseason season, as does the No. 4 team that defeats the fourth place team in the other division. As of right now, Cazenovia College is looking like the favorite to finish No. 4 in the North. Berks defeated Cazenovia earlier in the season and would thus make the playoffs if they can reach the No. 4 spot in the South Division.

Playing in the final home game of the season, the Nittany Lions honored the trio of Joel Ellison, Darren Major, and Baba Waples with Senior Day recognition. The three seniors played like a group that refused to lose their final game at the Beaver Community Center, as they combined to record 57 points and 23 rebounds.

Waples led all scorers with 27 points after shooting 8-of-14 from the floor. The senior guard finished one rebound shy of his career-high after snagging eight boards. Major, who followed with 21 points, tallied 14 second half points to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Ellison continued his strong shooting on mid-range jumpers as he shot 4-of-9 from the field and finished with nine points and nine boards.

As strong as the senior played,key contributions by freshmen Eric Stepnowski and Eli Adams helped significantly in the winning effort. Stepnowski established a career-high in points (10) and rebounds (9), while adding a blocked shot in 27 very effective minutes of action. Adams had four points and matched a season-high with four boards, but his best moment came when he recorded a steal with 13 seconds left and was fouled. Adams then went to the line and sank both of his free throws to put the game out of reach at 84-77 with seconds remaining.

Junior Nelson Hine continued his strong play running the offense with nine points and three assists, while also collecting a team-high 11 boards. Matt Thompson added four points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Berks trailed 44-41 at halftime and were down by as much as eight points with 9:47 left in regulation. But Berks used a 16-2 run over the next few minutes to swing the score to six points into their favor with just 2:12 to go. Down the stretch, Waples and Adams combined to go 6-for-6 at the line to help seal the win.

Abington was led by Don Sloan with 23 points after knocked down seven 3-pointers. Austin Slawter added 19 points and Lamar Moore notched a game-high 15 rebounds.

Berks will wrap up the regular season with a trip to New York this weekend. They will start off with SUNY Cobleskill on Friday, February 17 at 7 p.m., followed by SUNY Polytechnic on Saturday at 3 p.m.


 
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