Brandywine Downed By Beaver In Overtime

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine scored the final five points of regulation to extend the game an extra five minutes, but Penn State Beaver limited the Lions to five points during overtime to claim a 71-66 Penn State University Athletic Conference men's basketball victory on Saturday.

Down 61-56 with under one minute to go in regulation, Josh Smith (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) brought the Lions within two when he knocked down a three-pointer. After Brandywine forced a turnover, Bryce Barrouk (Glen Mills, Pa./Rustin) knotted the score at 61-61 by canning a short jumper in the paint. Beaver had two shots to win the game during its final possession, but both were off the mark.

Pat Gallagher's (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) tripled opened the scoring in overtime, but John Foster answered with a long ball for Beaver to tie the score. Beaver used two free throws to jump into the lead before Barrouk made the count 66-66 with 2:03 to play; however, Brandywine came up empty offensively during its final four possessions of overtime. Beaver took the lead for good at the 1:15 mark on a jumper from Foster and added three free throws during the final 28 seconds to secure the win.

Brandywine held an 10-point lead after Gallagher set down a layup with two minutes to go in the opening half, but Beaver outscored Brandywine 9-2 the rest of the way, including a five-point spurt during the final eight seconds of the period, to climb within three at the break.

The first 18 minutes of the second half were played in a six-point window with neither team moving ahead by more than three points. With Beaver in front 59-56, Keon Butler drove to the net and sank a layin to up the Beaver advantage to five points, but the Lions rallied to send the game to overtime during the final minute.

Gallagher paced the Lions with 18 points, while Barrouk added 12 points. Smith collected nine points and matched Anthony Lattanzi (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and Naifes Smalls (Philadelphia, Pa./PE&T Charter) for the team lead with six rebounds.

Brandywine (10-7, 6-5 PSUAC) plays its sixth consecutive home game on Tuesday night against Penn State Schuylkill at 8:00 pm.