READING, PA – Visiting Morrisville State College men's basketball improved to 4-1 within North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) action Saturday afternoon as they handed host Penn State Berks a 90-58 defeat on the road in Reading, Pennsylvania.
With the win, Morrisville State pulls to 6-7 overall. Penn St. Berks drops to 1-12, 1-4 within conference play.
Four collected double figures for the Mustangs in the win, including leader Brison Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) who netted 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, while adding five rebounds and five steals to his tallies on the afternoon.
Teammate Trent Ward (Auburn, N.Y.) added 13 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of action, while Derek Beames (Otego, N.Y.) came off the bench and registered a double-double behind his 12 points and 10 rebound performance.
Kyle Peck (Oneida, N.Y.) rounded out the Morrisville State leaderboard with 11 points, adding five rebounds.
The Mustangs led from the opening whistle, putting the first point on the board 16 seconds into the contest on a free throw from Hall.
Maintaining the lead, Penn St. Berks was able to pull within two with 6:23 remaining in the opening half, but Morrisville State used a 15-7 run over the close of the period to carry a 10 point lead into the break, 43-33.
After an early Nittany Lion jumper seconds into the second period to make it an eight point game, the Mustangs used an 11-0 offensive spurt to open the game to a 19 point advantage in favor of the hosts, increasing it to as many as 26 midway through the half.
Berks was able to cut the deficit to 19, but Morrisville State proved too strong offensively, hitting three straight from beyond the arc to increase their lead to 30, and seal the conference road win.
The Mustangs took advantage of their size in the paint, doubling up the hosts 24-12, and capitalized on 14 second half Berk miscues to add 20 additional points to their half total.
Morrisville State finished shooting 55.2% from the floor on the afternoon, holding Penn St. Berks to 30.7%, including 28.6% in the second half.
The Mustangs return to the court tomorrow, traveling to College of St. Elizabeth for a 12 p.m. tip off to complete the NEAC weekend trip.
Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2018 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2018 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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