Reading, Pa. - Jason Saldiveri scored a school record 51 points as the College of Saint Elizabeth's men's basketball team (3-6, 2-4 NEAC) held on in an overtime thriller, 123-122 on Tuesday night.

Saldiveri dropped 51 points on an incredible 21-28 from the floor (75%), grabbed seven rebounds and five steals. Marlon Hart added 17 points and eight rebounds while Cameron Tucker contributed with 18 points. Baba Waples scored 53 points for the Nittany Lions.

Both teams started hot offensively as Berks took an early 11-9 lead four minutes into the game. Roy Bond followed up with four of his career high 12 points over the next minute to give the Eagles a 17-15 lead. Trailing 24-22 with 12 minutes remaining in the half, the Eagles ran off an 8-0 run to open up its largest lead of the game at 30-24.

Over the next five minutes, Berks went on a 14-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 38-32. Over the final four minutes of the half, the Eagles zipped off a 21-9 run to take a 54-51 lead into the break.

As the second half got underway, Tucker nailed back to back three-pointers 45 seconds in to give the Eagles a 60-51 lead. Leading by nine with 14 minutes remaining, Berks went on a 14-7 run to cut the Eagles lead to 77-75.  With CSE ahead by six with five minutes remaining, Saldiveri scored nine of the next 13 points for the Eagles to take a 102-94 lead with 2:29 remaining.

Over the next minute and a half, Waples scored eight straight points for Berks to slice the Eagles lead to two. Berks would add two late free-throws to send the game into overtime, tied at 106. 

In overtime, the Eagles scored the first six points to take a 112-106 lead with 2:53 remaining. Leading by six, Saldiveri scored the next six points for CSE, but Berks would not go away, cutting the lead to one with 19 seconds remaining. After Michael Manso knocked down two clutch free-throws to give the Eagles a three point lead, Berks made a layup with two seconds remaining, which turned out to be the last play of the game as CSE held on for the one point victory.

CSE returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Lancaster Bible at 8 pm.