Tonight, the Penn State men’s basketball team looked to rebound from their first loss of the season against the Providence Friars as they welcomed the Boston Terriers to town. In this fourth matchup against one another in program history, it was the Nittany Lions beating the Terriers, 96-87, to improve to 6-1 on the season.
Three-point shots made by Eli Rice and Josh Reed got the Nittany Lions going with a 10-7 lead at the (15:51) mark in the first half.
Freddie Dilione continued his hot play and came off the bench and drilled a three and a jumper to make the score 19-13.
Tibor Mirtic was also contributing around the hoop with 4 points off the bench. At the first media timeout (11:35) it was the Nittany Lions 21, Terriers 13.
Penn State kept the pressure on. The Nittany Lions were attacking the hoop and playing a suffocating defense. Josh Reed was leading the way with 7 points and Ivan Juric, Eli Rice and Freddie Dilione had 5 points apiece (6:56).
Penn State’s 7-footer, Juric, was getting the best of Boston’s 7-footer, Ben Defty. Juric was 3-for-3 from the field with seven points at the (9:43) mark.
Made three-point shots were keeping the Terriers in striking distance. Ethan Okwuosa knocked in a three while in transition and teammate Chance Gladden had a tip-in to make the score Penn State 43, Boston 29 with (3:37) left in the first half.
At halftime, it was the Nittany Lions 51, Terriers 35. Penn State continued their balanced scoring attack. Reed had 11 points, Juric and Dilione followed with 8 and Rice had 7.
To start the second half, it was Rice, Melih Tunca, Juric and Kayden Mingo all scoring for PSU. With (16:00) to play, it was the Nittany Lions 61, Terriers 40.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.For the Terriers, Azmar Abdullah kept his team in the game by making two, clutch, three-point shots and teammate Ethan Okwuosa made his third 3-pointer. With Boston inching closer to Penn State, it was PSU 64, Boston 53 with (12:18) to play in the game.
Dominick Stewart ignited Penn State with a steal and layup to make the score 71-55, Nittany Lions.
Terrier, Michael McNair, then exploded with three made three-point shots to cut Penn State’s lead to just nine with (7:37) left in the game.
Dominick Stewart then had another clutch steal for an ‘and-1’ three-point play. It was Penn State 79, Boston 66 with (6:47) left in the game.
Boston’s, Michael McNair, then responded with his fifth, made three of the game and then his sixth made three with (4:30) to play. McNair had 23 points in the game at this point.
Melih Tunca started to take control of the game by drawing fouls, making his free throws, and with beautiful drives to the hoop. With (2:20) left in the game, it was the Nittany Lions 88, Terriers 76.
The Nittany Lions held on and defeated the Terriers, 96-87.
