By Brandy Thurston, Director of Sports Information
(Abington, Pa. – Jan. 6, 2013) Visiting Morrisville State College men’s basketball dominated host Penn State Abington Sunday afternoon, rolling to a 108-79 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over the Nittany Lions in Abington.
The Mustangs improve to 6-4 overall, and pull even in conference play at 1-1, while Abington drops to 3-10, 1-1 in NEAC action.
Five tallied double figures for Morrisville State, including a team high 16 from Jailaan Kinsey (Syracuse, N.Y.). Andrew Lucio (Solvay, N.Y.) added 15, nailing 5-of-7 from long range while dishing out four assists, as teammate Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, N.Y.) chipped in 13, snagging a team high eight rebounds, five on the offensive glass.
Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Jordan Prior (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 11 and 10, respectively, as Hanks added seven boards and four assists to his tallies on the day.
Max Alton led the Abington efforts with a team high 20 points on six from beyond the arc, while Avery Barnes registered a double-double performance with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Darien Mitchell posted 13, as Mike Marvin and Mike Colacci rounded out the Nittany Lions top scoring with 11 apiece.
Morrisville State maintained a two point advantage until back-to-back three’s by Prior with just over six minutes to go in the opening half, igniting a 17-4 Mustang run over the next three minutes to open the game to a 15 point margin.
Abington attempted to cut into the lead with a three from Colacci with 3:36 showing on the clock, but Morrisville State remained hot from long range, closing the half with three additional tre’s for the 53-32 lead at the break. The Mustangs finished the period hitting 12-of-16 from beyond the arc, 54.3 percent of shots from the floor.
Morrisville State jumped out to a 38 point advantage nearly five minutes into the second period, and led by as many as 42 with seven minutes to go, before Abington rallied to put together a final effort, closing the contest with a 22-9 run.
The Mustangs shot 52.7 percent from the floor in the contest, shooting a season best 61.5 from long range (16-for-26), while converting 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. Morrisville State held the 44-31 advantage over the Lions on the glass.
Morrisville State returns to the court Wednesday, hosting rival SUNYIT at 4 p.m. at the STUAC gymnasium.