MORRISTOWN, N.J. - The College of Saint Elizabeth's men's basketball team (12-8, 7-5 NEAC) rolled to an important conference win over Penn State Abington, 79-69 on Tuesday evening.

Both offenses start quick out of the gate in the first half as the Eagles took a 20-16 lead seven minutes into the contest.  Over the next five minutes, the Nittany Lions outscored the Eagles 17-4 to gain a 33-24 lead.  Trailing by nine, Lance Rhoden and Jason Saldiveri knocked down back to back three-pointers to get the Eagles back within 33-30.

The two squads played even over the next two minutes as Abington led 39-37 with under a minute remaining in the first half.  Trailing by six, Roland Romano made a buzzer beating layup to cut the deficit to 42-38 heading into halftime.

With the Eagles trailing 44-40, Cam Tucker hit four straight long three-pointers to give the Eagles a 52-46 lead, its largest of the game.  After Abington cut it to three, the Eagles scored 11 of the next 12 points to open up a 66-53 lead. 

Leading by 13, the Eagles scored the next five points to up its lead to 18 with six minutes to play.  Over the final six minutes, the closest the Nittany Lions would get is 10 as the Eagles took the game, 79-69.

Saldiveri led the Eagles with 22 points, three assists and two steals.  Tucker finished with 21 points on 5-6 from beyond the arc while Darnill Brown added 10 points.

CSE held Abington to just 27 points on 31% shooting in the second half.  The Eagles also forced 14 turnovers in the final 20 minutes while committing just four.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday when it travels to Cobleskill for a 3 pm tip.