Beaver Drops Season Opener In Overtime Thriller
Beaver hosts Kent State Tuscarawas to kick off their regular season.
Monaca, PA – Penn State Beaver Men's Basketball hosted Kent State Tuscarawas in their season opener. This was an out of conference matchup, but this was still important to both teams since they both play in the USCAA.
To start the game Kent State won the tip off and took the ball down the court for an empty possession and Beaver responded by drawing a shooting foul for Alex Green (Chicago, IL) who scored the first point of the game. Beaver was able to inch ahead at the beginning of the game taking a five-point lead 11-6. After this Kent State began to catch up and the game stayed very close for a while with the two teams trading the lead back and forth and no one having more than a five-point lead until Kent State took a seven-point lead 31-24. The rest of the first half was much like the beginning with both teams fighting for every point. At the end of the first half Kent State Tuscarawas had a 52-47 lead.
At the beginning of the second half Kent State was able to increase their lead to 64-52. Beaver did not let this deficit discourage them and they slowly chipped away at the twelve-point lead for the rest of the half. Beaver was able to tie the game 76-76 before giving up the lead again, but just like before they came back and tied the game 89-89 as time was winding down. As the horn sounded for the end of half two Jalen Vaughn (Beaver Falls, PA) attempted a buzzer beater just passed half court that rattled in the rim before bouncing out and sending the game to overtime. Some missed opportunities for Beaver in overtime led to a 9-0 run for Kent State to start OT and this deficit was too much for Beaver to overcome and they would lose the game 106-96. The difference maker in this game was turnovers as Beaver had 23 compared to Kent State's 10 with Beaver scoring 10 points off turnovers as opposed to Kent State's 21.