Aurora, New York – The Wells College men’s basketball team lost to North Eastern Athletic Conference opponent Penn. St. Harrisburg Nittany Lions 91-87 in overtime on Sunday at Cornell University. The Express were led by freshmen guards Greg Jones (Alexandria, VA) with 24 points and Craig Gaylord (Alexandria, VA) with 18 points and nine assists.

Penn. St. was led by Kenton Alston with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Wells and Penn. St traded shots throughout the first half as there were four different lead changes in the half. The Nittany Lions would finish the first half with a 13-6 run, leading the Express 44-38. Both Jones and Gaylord entered the half with ten points.

The Express spent the entire second half battling back against Penn St. as they would find themselves down by as much as 15-points with 15-minutes left to play.  It wasn’t until 1:31 left in the second half that a Tony Parker (Sodus, NY) lay-up for the Express would tie the game at 77-77.  Darrell Bullock (Chicago, IL) would be fouled by Nittany Lion’s guard Cole McGuire with 35-seconds left. Bullock hit both free throws giving the Express a 79-77 lead with 35-seconds left.

On the inbound pass McGuire drove the length of the floor to the basket where he was fouled by Parker. McGuire hit both free throws tying the game at 79-79 with 25-seconds left in the game. With three seconds left in the game McGuire drove to the hoop, but his lay-up attempt rattled off the rim sending the game into overtime.

In overtime Penn St. would take a quick four point lead, but with 55-seconds left an Express three-pointer by Jones tied the game at 87-87. With under a minute to play Nittany Lion forward Brian Barry took the ball and was fouled on a lay-up attempt by Jarrell Williams (Bronx, NY) sending him to the line. Barry drained both free throws and on the ensuing play Gaylord’s tying shot was blocked by Alston to seal the win for the Nittany Lions.

With the loss the Express fall to 0-2 (0-1 NEAC) while Penn. St. improves to 1-0 (1-0 NEAC).

The Express will next play Hilbert College on Tuesday, November 18th at 7:00 pm at Hilbert.