ABINGTON, Pa. – The points were flowing here Saturday as Gallaudet University traveled to Penn State Abington for a United East men's basketball contest.

The two teams combined for 103 points in the second half as the host Nittany Lions defeated the Bison, 102-78.

GU sophomore Alex Ortman (Norway, Mich.) scored a career-high 29 points on 11 of 17 shooting from the field and the guard knocked down 7 of 8 shots from the free-throw line. Ortman grabbed five rebounds, passed out three assists and made one block. Ortman scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half as GU finished with 46 points.

The 46 points scored were just one shy of the 47 made by Penn St.-Abington senior guard JoJo Kelly, who made 17 of 31 shots from the field including five 3-pointers and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Kelly grabbed six rebounds, made four steals and passed out four assists on Senior Day. The 47 points scored in a game is a new school record for Penn St.-Abington. Junior guard Tyler Fox matched Kelly from long range as the guard made five 3-pointers to finish with 22 points.

Gallaudet (2-17, 1-10 United East) scored the game's first two baskets and held the lead on three different occasions in the first five minutes of play. Penn St.-Abington (4-19, 4-7 United East) took over the lead for good at the 11:34 mark with a Fox layup and free throw made to give the Nittany Lions a 16-14 lead.

The Bison pulled to within one point, 21-20, on a made jumper by first-year forward Keanu Ray Boren (Frederick, Md.) at the 7:50 mark but Kelly responded with a 3-pointer. Penn St.-Abington outscored Gallaudet 24-12 over the final eight minutes of play to take a 45-32 lead into the half.

GU scored the first three buckets in the second half and shaved the lead down to single digits and stayed close with the Nittany Lions for the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Bison got to within four points at the 16:38 mark and later five points on two different occasions. Ortman got GU to within five on a free throw at 13:12 and again on a layup at 12:25. The Bison were only down 60-55 to one of the top teams in the United East with 12 minutes to play.

Penn St.-Abington went on a 17-6 run in five minutes to go up 77-61 and later used a 16-2 spurt to increase the margin to 29 points, 97-68, with two minutes left. The Nittany Lions outscored the Bison 57-46 in the second half.

Sophomore guard Jory Valencia (Riverside, Calif.) finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Boren matched Valencia with 13 points and four boards. Sophomore forward Wyatt Carlson (Hubertus, Wis.) was saddled with foul trouble and only scored four points in 21 minutes played with four personal fouls. Senior guard Samer Sawan (Toronto, Ontario) chipped in six points on two 3-pointers as the Bison finished with five 3-pointers made.

In a strange twist of fate these two teams played in another memorable Senior Day game in the GU Field House on Feb. 12, 2012, where Gallaudet senior guard Brandon McMillan scored 46 points to break the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) record for points in a game as the Bison won, 95-90. The NEAC is now named the United East Conference.

UP NEXT
Gallaudet returns home to host Penn St.-Brandywine (14-9, 9-2 United East) this Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. in the Field House. The Bison basketball programs will celebrate Black History Month during the conference doubleheader.