Penn State men's basketball gets 2nd home win of season

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State men’s basketball recovered from its Monday loss to Massachusetts by earning a home victory over the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers on Thursday night at Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions won 74-59.

The Nittany Lions (2-1) and the Terriers played close in the early portion of the game in large part because of Penn State’s struggles around the rim. St. Francis Brooklyn was packing its defense in close and making any shots in that area difficult.

Not to mention Penn State was turning the ball over early on and giving the Terriers extra opportunities to score. That began to change near the midpoint of the first half, when senior guard Sam Sessoms Jr. took control of the offense for the Nittany Lions. He scored all 16 of his first-half points in the last nine minutes before halftime and scored all but five of the team’s points in that span.

He was aided by junior Seth Lundy’s nine points and senior Jelanni White’s six points in the game’s first 20 minutes.

The Nittany Lions struggled to open the second half, allowing the Terriers to close in and shrink the team’s 13-point lead that was well on its way to growing prior to the start of the half. The momentum flip coincided with some made shots by St. Francis Brooklyn and led to Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry subbing out four of the five players on the court to try to spur his team.

The decision paid off with the Nittany Lions regaining their momentum from there. They never relinquished their lead and were able to break the St. Francis Brooklyn trap to get some easy offense, something they struggled with Monday night against Massachusetts.

Penn State will try to continue its undefeated start at home Monday when it takes on Cornell. The Big Red are 3-0 with wins over Binghamton, Lafayette and Colgate. Penn State is projected to win by roughly 15 points, according to Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings.