MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Host Morrisville State men's basketball and SUNY Polytechnic will meet for a third time this season after both advanced to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship final with semifinal wins Saturday afternoon in Morrisville.
THE BASICS:
- Final Score (semifinal 1): Morrisville State 80, Penn State Abington 54
- Final Score (semifinal 2): Lancaster Bible College 64, SUNY Polytechnic 67
- Location: Morrisville, New York
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Top seeded Morrisville State overpowered fourth seed Penn State Abington Saturday as they advanced to the NEAC final for a fourth straight season.
- The host Mustangs had three net double figures from a squad that all-around scoring. Kevin Dennis (Bronx, N.Y.) paced Morrisville State with a high 19 points, adding 16 rebounds as he shot 75% from the floor on the day across 22 minutes time.
- Morrisville State got big numbers off the bench from guard/forward Brison Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) who added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double.
- Senior point guard Lamel Faison (Brooklyn, N.Y.) rounded out the Mustang leaderboard with 15 points, assisting eight.
- Penn St. Abington got 17 points from guard Pernell Ghee in their efforts, adding six rebounds and three steals to his tallies.
- Jay Fitzgerald added 11 off the bench.
- Morrisville State and Abington played to a close match until a 10-1 run by the Mustangs, five points of which came off the hand of Hall, widened the gap to 15 in favor of the top seed midway through the opening half.
- The Mustangs continued the persistent offensive attack at the basket and headed into the halftime with a 40-25 lead.
- In the second, Morrisville increased their lead to as many as 28 and never looked back as the deficit proved too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome.
- The Mustangs outgained the Nittany Lions 41-31 on the glass, including a 9-7 margin on the offensive boards, while besting Abington 38-28 in play in the paint.
- Abington ends the season with a 14-13 overall record, while Morrisville State (22-4) advances to face SUNY Polytechnic who defeated Lancaster Bible in a thrilling 67-64 win in the second semifinal in Morrisville.
- Despite a 32 point, nine rebound effort by Quentin Davis, the Chargers were unable to hold on as Poly rallied from a 13-point deficit behind the play of Josh Gregory and Redell Freeman to claim the win.
- Gregory and Freeman each collected 21 points for the Wildcats, adding a combined 13 rebounds and three assists.
WHAT'S NEXT:
- Morrisville State and SUNY Poly, North Division rivals, will meet for a third time this season. The Mustangs won the previous two meetings, 91-89 in double overtime on December 1, and 85-67 on January 23rd.
- Since the January loss to the Mustangs, the Wildcats have been on a nine-game win streak. Morrisville State's lone loss since the start of the new year came at the hands of Lancaster Bible on February 2nd.
- The winner of the NEAC final will earn the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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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