In the first game of the Micah Shrewsberry era, Penn State took care of business with a 75-59 win over Youngstown State at Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State’s seniors led the way. Seth Lundy led all scorers with 23 points, and John Harrar and Sam Sessoms scored 16 and 17, respectively.
Harrar added 14 rebounds for a double-double, and Sessoms had a game-high eight assists, matching Youngstown State’s whole team.
The 3-pointer made up roughly 36 percent of Penn State’s scoring.
The Penguins hung in for most of the first half, leading 21-17 past the midway point.
But after a Sessoms free-throw with 8:30 left in the half made it 22-21 Nittany Lions, Penn State never trailed the rest of the way.
At the half, Penn State led 35-26. Lundy and Harrar combined for 20 of those points, with each scoring an even 10 in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Penguins hung in for a while, pulling to within six with 7:12 left. But a 10-0 Nittany Lion run after that put the game to bed.
Penn State shot 51.7% from the field, outrebounded the Penguins 43-25 and had twice as many assists, 16-8.
For Youngstown State, Michael Akuchie led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Garrett Covington added 11.
Next up, the Nittany Lions will go to the Northeast to take on a UMass team that features former Nittany Lion Trent Buttrick. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday night.
