Beaver Battles #1 Seed Central Maine in Day 2 of USCAA Tournament, Advances to Semifinals

Uniontown, PA-  On day 2 of the USCAA National Tournament, Beaver squared off with #1 seeded Central Maine.  Central Maine received a first round bye on Wednesday, while Penn State Beaver defeated #9 Berkley 76-68.

In the first half, Central Maine took control early, building a 7 point lead by the first media timeout (14:47), 16-9.  Beaver came charging back, taking a 21-20 lead on Freshman Tiere Phillips ( Penn Hills/Pittsburgh, PA) 3 pointer right before the second media time-out (9:58 1^st half).  Beaver led by 4 at the 5 minute mark, but went into the half with a 49-47 lead.

Central Maine opened the second frame hitting a 3 pointer, taking their second lead of the game.  Beaver quickly regained the lead, on two Chris Weather's (New Brighton/New Brighton, PA) free throws.  Maine responded again with their second 3 of the half, taking the lead.  Beaver regained the lead with 15:51 left in the game, on a steal and dunk that sent the gym wild by Sophomore Rob Agurs (Penn Hills/Pittsburgh, PA).  Beaver extended the lead to 9 (69-60) on a Phillips lay up with 14:47 to go.  Beaver led by as many as 11, before Central Maine clawed back to tie the game with 5:11 left.  Maine took the lead with 1:36 left, but when the smoked cleared, the score was tied 90-90 and heading to overtime.

In overtime, the lead changed numerous times.  With 26 seconds left, Senior Nick Miller (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls, PA)  hit an acrobatic lay up to give Beaver a 103-100 lead.  With .3 seconds left, Beaver fouled a Central Maine's shooter attempting a three, but he would hit only 1 of 3 free throws, giving Beaver the 103-101 lead.

Beaver was led by Agurs, who recorded a double-double, grabbing 15 rebounds and scoring 38 points.  Miller scored 31 in the win as well.  Weathers added 11, but only played 28 minutes due to foul trouble.  Central Maine's Shaun Hill scored a USCAA record 46 points in the loss.

With the win, Beaver (21-6) will take on the #4 seeded Penn State Mont Alto in the semifinals on Friday, at 5PM in the Main Arena.  This will be the third meeting for the pair, with Mont Alto winning at home both during the regular season and in the PSUAC Final Four.