Morristown, N.J. - The College of Saint Elizabeth's men's basketball team (1-2, 0-1 NEAC) made a strong second half push, but could not complete the comeback, falling to Penn State Berks, 89-75 on Tuesday evening.

Continuing his solid start to the season, Jason Saldiveri lead the Eagles with 26 points, six rebounds and two steals. Marlon Hart chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds while Roland Romano added nine points and 10 rebounds.

In the first half, Penn State Berks took an early 11-5 lead over the Eagles. Despite a poor shooting start, Hart made a driving layup with 10:38 to go in the half to get the Eagles within two. Following a timeout, the Nittany Lions opened up a ten point gap thanks to a quick 8-0 run. Berks pushed the lead to as high as 13 before the Eagles managed to get within seven as the first half buzzer expired.

The second half began promising for the Eagles as they quickly got to within four, however Berks managed to pump the deficit back to ten with ten minutes remaining in the game. Berks managed to use a 7-0 run in the next two minutes to break open their biggest lead of the game at 17. Trailing 72-57 with 5:48 remaining, the Eagles defense cranked it up, forcing four turnovers in the next three minutes.

The Eagles used quick buckets and converted five of six free throws to slice the deficit down to five with 2:46 remaining in the contest. Despite having a chance to tie the game up, CSE was unable to complete the comeback, falling 89-75.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday when they host Penn State Abington at 3 pm.