Beaver falls to Greater Allegheny in overtime, 81-76

By: Matylda Zamudio 

Monaca, Pa. – After a valiant defensive effort in the second half to tie the game, the Penn State Beaver men's basketball team lost in overtime to conference rival Penn State Greater Allegheny on Monday night.

PSUAC Player of the Week sophomore forward Andrew Brady (Alliance/Marlington) led in Beaver in scoring with 23 points and 13 rebounds, earning himself a double-double. Right behind Brady was freshman guard Keon Butler (Annapolis/Star Severn School) with 17 points and junior guard John Foster (Austin/Del Valle) with 15 points of his own.

1st half: While Allegheny opened up the scoring with a 3-pointer at the 18:26, a foul by the victors the sent Brady to the free-throw line for two-attempts, which both went in. Brady then followed up with two back-to-back layups for Beaver to take a one-possession lead (6-3). But the teams battled back and forth, exchanging the lead several times before Allegheny managed a 10-point run to give Beaver a 10-point deficit at the 4:26 mark (24-12). But 30 seconds later, Brady answered by sinking another two back-to-back layups, which fostered an 8-0 run to put Beaver within striking distance and cut the deficit down to only 4 points (26-22). Both teams managed another 5 points each before the buzzer sounded for the end of the half with Beaver trailing by 4 points (31-27).

2nd half: Beaver had a little bit of a slow start after the break and with the help of two scored shots from behind the arches paired with three scored free throws by Allegheny, the Lions found themselves in an 11-point hole four minutes into the half (40-29). But at the 15:35 mark, Butler sunk two 3-pointers from downtown paired with a layup from the Brady brother's, Andrew Brady and freshman forward Austin Brady (Alliance/Marlington), to cut Beaver's deficit to a single digit (43-39). At 10:07, junior guard Kevin Louis-Charles (Lawrenceville/Central Gwinnett) hit a jumper to tie the game at 46-46, the score remained within a few points, until two free-throws tied the score at 65-65, sending the conference rivals to duke it out in overtime. Beaver outscored Allegheny 38-34 in the second.

OT: While momentum had swung in Beaver's favor in the second half, the Lions ran into turnover trouble, which allowed Allegheny to take a 7-point lead with only 20 seconds left on the clock (79-72). Although Beaver came within 5 points, time was not on the team's side: Beaver lost, 81-76.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 72.4 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 21-29. Beaver outscored Allegheny 13-4 on second-chance points, 34-22 on points in the paint and allotted 44 boards to Allegheny's 27.

Beaver will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 9, as the men will travel to Penn State New Kensington for the team's second of three straight conference matches for the week. The game is slated for 7 p.m.