Men's Basketball Falls to Penn State York in the PSUAC Championship

University Park, PA -- Penn State York defeated Beaver 108-96 in the PSUAC Championship.

After a rocky start to the 2014-15 season, the Lions of Beaver won their last 5 games to qualify as the number two seed after defeating Mont Alto in the semi-finals on Sunday night.

From the opening tip, the atmosphere was electric as both teams came out ready to play.  In the opening minutes the game was close, as niether team would give up more than a two point lead.  As the first half continued in a close battle, Beaver started to make a push with 5:03 to play.  Down 5 (28-23) a jump shot by Marcus Smith (Pittsburgh, PA/Perry) swung the momentum in favor of Beaver as it would spark a 16-0 run highlighted by a dunk by senior Tiere Phillips (Pittsburgh, PA/Penn Hills).  With the score 40-28 in favor of Beaver, York would make a push to narrow the lead as Beaver carried a 5 point lead into half time, up 40-35.

The second half was even more intense than the first as both teams continued to battle.  Beaver maintained their lead for the first three minutes of the half, before York would tie the game at 48-48.  For the next ten minutes both teams would trade buckets and play tight defense never allowing the other team to get a lead of more than three points.  With 9:50 to play, Beaver lost their lead as York would push to swing the momentum of the game in their favor. In the last four minutes of play, Beaver's best defense was not enough to stop the fast offense of York.

Beaver fell by a final score of 108-96.

Leading the scoring efforts in the game were Lamont Wright (Pittsburgh, PA/Penn Hills) who put up 25 points.  He was followed by Marcus Smith who put up 21.

Beaver finished the season with a PSUAC record of 13-5 as the PSUAC runners-up.