Penn Shook a slow start to hand to defeat Canisius 97-67 on Sunday afternoon giving the Nittany Lions their most decisive victory of the season.
Canisius (2-8) jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the first half as Penn State seemingly underestimated its opponent and Canisius executed better on both sides of the ball.
Penn State (8-3) struggled early in the first half. Jamir Moultrie hit his first five shots and Canisius had a hot start to the game, going 10-for-13 early.
But Penn State started to chip away at the lead toward the end of the first half. Penn State continued to struggle on the defensive end throughout the first half, however, Penn State finally took the lead when Seth Lundy hit a three-point point shot to put them up 31-29.
After Canisius tied the game, Penn State went on a 9-0 run thanks to layups by Lundy, Jalen Pickett, and Dillon Johnson. Lundy suffered an ankle injury at the end of the first half when he was driving to the basket. Penn State went on a 31-11 run to end the first half, but the feisty Golden Griffins kept themselves in the game, only trailing 42-36 at halftime. Penn State outshot Canisius 58.1 percent to 50 percent in the first half.
The Nittany Lion went on a 9-0 run to start the second half to basically seal the game. Penn State slowly, but surely established itself as the dominant team and its lead swelled to as many as 31 points in the second half. Penn State cruised to an easy victory from there.
Pickett led Penn State with 16 points and assists with nine. Lundy scored 10 points and led Penn State with six rebounds before leaving the game. Andrew Funk scored 15 points on 5-for-6 on three-point shooting.
Jordan Henderson led Canisius in scoring with 14 points, followed by Jamar Moultrie with 12 points, and Tahu Staveskie with 10 points.
Penn State will host Quinnipiac on Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center, while Canisius will take on Florida Gulf Coast University on the road on Wednesday night.
Twitter: @bwalkerdadon.
