Plymouth State Falls to Rivier

PLYMOUTH-NH.   The Plymouth State men's basketball team came up short in a highly contested battle against Rivier University in the second game of the Boys and Girls Club Classic, hosted by NHTI. The game featured stellar defense on both sides, as Rivier and Plymouth were limited to 43 and 35 percent shooting, respectively.

The Panthers, who fell to 1-3 on the season, played catch up most of the night. The Raiders used 14 straight points spanning the final minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half to open up a 13-point lead. However, a Matt Cloutier three-pointer with 1:26 remaining tied the game up at 50. Rivier would eventually use strong rebounding and three free throws to edge out the Panthers.

Rivier's Nick Walch lead the game with 15 points and seven rebounds while Garon Whitney chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds of his own. The Panthers were lead by sophomore Alex Burt who scored nine points on 4 of 8 shooting. Senior Kevin Eisenberg contributed eight points while fellow senior Stephan Roberts chipped in with six points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The game was back and forth throughout, featuring four lead changes in an intense first half.  PSU found themselves leading by one with 5 minutes remaining in the first half, when Rivier began their 14-point rally.

Trailing 29-22 at the half, the Panthers came out slow in the second frame, but would find their footing.  PSU pulled within four points with 7:45 to play on the back of eight straight points, and the game would remain close the rest of the way until the Raiders were able to pull out the victory after Plymouth missed two potentially game-tying shots in the closing moments.

The Panthers will play a non-conference game Thursday night at Salem State University, while Rivier will return home to host Johnson and Wales University on Saturday.