STATE COLLEGE — Jalen Pickett had 18 points, Seth Lundy scored 15 and Penn State cruised to a 70-57 victory over Lafayette on Friday night.
Pickett made 7 of 10 shots from the floor with eight assists and six rebounds for Penn State (6-1). Lundy hit 3 of 6 from 3-point range and added seven rebounds and two blocks. Camren Wynter made three shots from beyond the arc and scored 11.
Leo O’Boyle was the lone Leopard to score in double figures with 19. He made 6 of 9 shots from the floor, while his teammates made only 12 of 49. O’Boyle made 4 of 5 from distance, and the rest of the Leopards made 5 of 23.
O’Boyle sank a 3-pointer to give Lafayette a 19-12 lead with 12 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the first half. From there, Pickett scored 12 of his 14 first-half points, and Lundy scored all 10 of his to send Penn State (6-1) into halftime with a 42-32 lead.
Andrew Funk buried a 3-pointer, Kebba Njie had a three-point play and Wynter hit a 3 to spark a 15-2 run to open the second half and Penn State led 57-34 with 14:25 left in the game. Lafeyette (1-6) ended the run when T.J. Berger buried two straight 3-pointers.
The Nittany Lions took their biggest lead 66-40 on a 3-pointer by Lundy with 7:34 remaining.
Penn State leads the series with Lafayette 13-4. The Leopards are in their first season under Mike Jordan.
