Beaver loses close one to Southern Virginia

By: Staff writer

Monaca, PA - On Jan. 9, the Penn State Beaver men's basketball team traveled to Beuna Vista, VA to compete against Southern Virginia University. The outcome was a 40 point blow-out in the favor of Southern Virginia.

On Friday night, Beaver had the chance to redeem itself, and the team proved that it could hang with the No. 3 ranked Southern Virginia, despite a 70-64 loss.

Most of the game was played in streaks. Southern Virginia would go on a run, and Beaver would catch back up. In middle of the first half, Southern Virginia went on a ten point run to take a 21-12 lead. Junior Tony Houghton (Perry Traditional/Pittsburgh, PA) sparked Beaver offensively when he hit a transition 3-pointer to cut the deficit, followed up with big plays by freshman Nick Miller (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls, PA) and sophomore Rich Gaston (Shenango/New Castle, PA).

However, with six minutes to go, Southern Virginia hit shots that sent them into the half with a 35-23 lead.

In the second, Beaver got a much earlier start. A 3-pointer by senior Billy Stoughton (Slippery Rock/Slippery Rock, PA) pulled the team within ten points of Southern Virginia, and a fast break play and a finish by senior David McGarry (Poland/Poland, OH) would bring the team within the single digits (42-34).

From there, back-to-back scores by junior Julian Taylor (Rochester/Rochester, PA) and a 3-pointer by junior Tyler Care (Lincoln Park/Aliquippa, PA) made it a three point game (44-41) with nine minutes to play.

Southern Virginia then went on another run to give itself a 53-46 advantage with just under six minutes to go. In the last few minutes, Miller drove to the hoop and finished to cut his team's deficit to nine. A Southern Virginia turnover game Beaver an extra possession, which Beaver capitilized on when McGarry scored in the paint to make it a seven point game.

Miller then forced a Southern Virginia turnover. With 2:15 to play, McGarry hit a pair of free throws, Gaston took an offensive foul and freshman Quentin Burton (Ambridge/Ambridge, PA) scored off a rebound put-back to bring the team within five points of its opponent.

With time dwindling down and only 22 seconds left on the clock, Houghton hit another clutch 3-pointer that left Beaver down by only two points (67-65.) The team was then forced to foul in order to gain extra possessions, but Southern Virginia hit the free-throws it needed to secure a win.

In the effort, Miller scored 16 points for the Lions and McGarry had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Gaston pitched in eight.

The team is now 9-9 overall and on Saturday, returns to conference when it hosts Penn State York at 3 p.m.