GREENSBURG, Pa. - Redshirt Senior
Spencer Casson registered his second straight double-double, tallying 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Griffins fell to Lock Haven, 68-63, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon inside Salvitti Gymnasium.
The Griffins are now 2-3 overall, including 1-1 in the PSAC. Lock Haven improves to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC.
The Griffins got out to a strong start, scoring the game's first five points after Casson scored the opening layup and
Trevor Lecuona hit a three to make it 5-0 with 16:56 remaining in the first half. However, the Bald Eagles would go on a 20-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 20-9 lead with 12:43 showing on the clock. After a
Spencer Casson jumper in the paint stopped the LHU momentum,
Nathan Davis' layup made it 20-13 with 11:06 to go in the first.
Tommy Sekunda's jumper then brought the lead down to five (5), 20-15, with 10:19 remaining. After a LHU three, Anthony Karabotsos answered with a three of his own and
Nathan Davis' jumper brought the lead down to just three (3), 20-23, with 8:46 remaining. The Bald Eagles would hit another three, but SHU's
Tommy Sekunda answered right back. Another LHU bucket was answered, this time by
Tyler Bowling, and Casson was good on both free-throws to bring to LHU lead to one (1), 28-27. LHU would respond with a jumper on the other end, but back-to-back trey's by Karabotsos and Davis gave Seton Hill their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 33-30, with just over three minutes to go in the half. The two teams would battle back-and-forth from there, but Seton Hill would take a 36-35 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Lock Haven regained the lead with a bucket on the first possession, 37-36. The Bald Eagle defense would step up and cause problems for the Seton Hill offense, eventually pushing their lead out to double-digits (12), 58-46, with 11:10 showing on the clock. With the Bald Eagles leading by 11, 62-51, the Griffins would start to chip away. A fastbreak layup by Sekunda and a follow-up free-throw made it 62-54. Coming out of the under-eight media timeout, a layup by Davis and a jumped by Casson whittled the lead to four (4), 62-58, with 6:35 to go. Lock Haven responded with a trey and a pair of free-throws, but a timely three from Karabotsos and a layup from Casson got the Griffins to within three (3), 66-63, with 2:24 showing. The Seton Hill defense looked to step up on the next possession, but back-to-back offensive rebounds took precious time off of the clock. Seton Hill would have an opportunity to tie the game with 13 ticks remaining, but that shot went off the back iron. Lock Haven would ice the game with two free-throws on the other end and take the game, 68-63.
Spencer Casson registered the only double-double in the game, scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 from the field and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Nathan Davis had 12 points on a 5-of-15 night, including 2-for-9 from the three-point line. Anthony Karabotsos and
Tommy Sekunda chipped in 11 points apiece.
Ra'eese Hunt led LHU with 17 points. Jihad Barnes had 16, Amir Hinton had 11, and Matt Ceruti came away with 10 points in the win.
For the game, Seton Hill made 24-of-53 (45.3%) total shots. The Griffins were 8-for-25 (32.0%) from long-range, and 7-9 (77.8%) from the foul line. Lock Haven made 26-of-69 (37.7%) shots, including 7-of-21 (33.3%) from the three-point line, and 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the charity stripe. Seton Hill had 26 points in the paint, 11 second chance points, and received 25 points from their bench. Lock Haven had 18 points in the paint, 22 points off of turnovers, 16 second chance points, and 10 points from their bench.
The Griffins will travel to Salem, WV to take on Salem University on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
