BOSTON, Mass. – The Plymouth State University men's basketball team had a chance to force overtime but came up just short in a 77-74 loss at Emerson College in non-conference action at Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gym on Tuesday night.
Senior
Dante Rivera (Lawrence, Mass.) led the Panthers with 14 points, while junior
Giorgi Tsiklauri (Brooklyn, N.Y.), sophomore
Kyler Bosse (Manchester, N.H.) and freshman
Yansel Reyes (Manchester, N.H.) each scored 12 in the losing effort.
The back-and-forth game was tied at 68-68 with just under three minutes remaining, but a layup and three-pointer on consecutive possessions gave the Lions the lead for good. Freshman
Christian Barr (Henniker, N.H.) made it a two-point game (74-72) in the final minute, but the hosts hit clutch free throws down the stretch to hold off PSU's comeback bid.
The Panthers found themselves down in a one-possession game with the ball for the second straight game but could not force OT.
Plymouth State falls to 4-3 on the season, while the Lions improve to 4-2.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 77, Emerson 74
- Plymouth State (4-3)
- Emerson (4-2)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- The teams traded buckets to start the game, finding themselves tied at 9-9 with 13:31 left in the first half.
- PSU went on an 8-0 run to go up 20-13 with 7:24 on the clock, forcing a Lions' timeout.
- The Panthers extended the lead to ten, 33-23 with 1:55 to play in the opening half, the largest lead either team held in the contest.
- Emerson responded by scoring seven straight points, cutting the PSU advantage to 33-30 to close out the half.
- The Lions began the second by scoring the first four points to give the hosts their first lead (34-33) since 11:41 in the first half.
- The teams traded the lead seven times to open the second half, before PSU used a 10-2 run to go back on top, 56-50, with 10:44 left to play.
- The Lions continued to claw back, re-gaining the lead 61-60 with 6:35 remaining in the game.
- Rivera knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 68-68 as time wound down to under three minutes left.
- Immediately after an Emerson timeout, the Lions scored five straight points to go up 73-68 with 1:39 left.
- The Panthers cut the lead to two twice in the final minute, but late Emerson free throws kept the game just out of reach in the end.
By the Numbers:
- The Panthers went 23-of-63 (36.5%) from the floor and 8-of-18 (44.4%) from three.
- PSU was barely outrebounded, 33-32, but won on the offensive glass 8-4.
- The Panthers had a season low 10 turnovers.
- Points off turnovers were in favor of the Panthers, 13-11.
- Plymouth State limited the Lions to 30 first half points, the fewest for the team all season.
- Rivera (13.3) and Bosse (12.7) are both averaging double-digit scoring this season.
Up Next:
- The Panthers travel to Eastern Nazarene College on Thursday (Dec. 2) for a 6:00 p.m. non-conference game.
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