BRYN ATHYN, Pa. – Penn College's run through the United East men's basketball tournament fell short in the semifinals against top-seeded Bryn Athyn, 96-91 in an overtime slugfest on Tuesday evening. The 12th-seeded Wildcats finish the season 10-18 while the Lions moved to 19-8.
How it happened: After the two sides battled through 14 ties, 10 lead changes and neither side gaining more than a five-point lead through the first 40 minutes of action,
Gavin Barrett drained two-free throws with just 11 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 80-80 and send the semifinals to overtime.
Penn College struck first on the opening possession of the extra period when
Livingston Cross backed down the defense for a layup in the lane while Barrett finished the night with the Wildcats' final nine points. His driving layup stretched the Penn College lead to 84-81 with 3:36 left before the Lions tied it, 84-84, with a bucket and a made free throw. Barrett went on to hit two more free throws with 2:19 on the clock and a driving left-handed layup cut the Lions lead to one, 89-88. The next Wildcat possession Barrett was awarded his third trip to the line and two more free throws which gave the Wildcats a 90-89 lead before a 3-pointer by the Lions made the score 92-90 with 31 seconds set the final moments of the night.
Bryn Athyn stretched its lead to 94-91 with a trip to the line just under 16 seconds left and enough for one more play for the Wildcats. After getting up the floor, Barrett found
Julien Leveille for a corner three but the shot just missed the mark and Bryn Athyn came down with the ball to finish the game.
The Lions held a 43-37 halftime lead before Penn College answered with 43 points in the second frame to force OT.
Inside the box: The Wildcats went down swinging with production all over the floor as Cross finished with 30 points on 14-23 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists. Barrett's final statline in a Wildcat jersey produced 27 points, six rebounds and five assists while
Landon Reeder added 14 points and eight rebounds and Ronn Flood Jr., contributed with 10 points, five assists and three blocks in his final outing for the program.
Jakir Hampton finished the night with 27 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 31 seconds left in overtime to lead the Lions. Both teams finished the night shooting identical 48% (35-72) but a 10-4 advantage in threes tipped the scoring scale in favor of the home team.
