Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA—Penn State, the first-ever Big Ten Conference men's basketball opponent for NJIT, dominated the second half to pull away from the determined Highlanders, 74-47, in the first game of the Philly Hoop Group Classic played Monday night in Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions (2-0) could not shake NJIT in the first half. The Highlanders trailed just 30-26 after Brendon Lyn made the second of his two first-half three-pointers with 2:43 remaining. And the score stood at 37-29 for Penn State at the break.
But Penn State competes in one of the nation's premier conferences and the Nittany Lions simply had too much second-half firepower for NJIT, playing just its third season of Division I competition. Penn State more than doubled the Highlander scoring over the last 20 minutes, 37-18, and led by at least 21 points for the last 10:34.
The winners shot 13-for-27 (48 percent) on three-pointers for the game, including 7-for-14 in the second half.
Sophomore guard Talor Battle paced a balanced Penn State scoresheet with 16 points that included 4-for-7 shooting from long distance. Forward David Jackson added 13 points as the most effective interior player for Penn State. He had three traditional three-point plays, scoring baskets from in close and then adding a free throw. He was 5-for-5 at the foul line.
Senior Danny Morrissey came off the bench and took nothing but three-point shots, making four of eight and finishing with 12 points. And Battle's starting backcourt partner, Stanley Pringle, was 2-for-4 on threes and scored 10 points.
Battle had six assists and just one turnover in 32 minutes for Penn State. Andrew Jones and Jeff Brooks shared the rebounding lead for the Nittany Lions with six apiece.
The Highlanders were led by Lyn, who scored a career-high 13 points and shared game rebounding honors with sophomore teammate Paulius Skema at seven boards apiece. Lyn's previous scoring high was seven and the 5-foot-9 guard's previous rebounding high was three. Skema, who is 6-8, matched his career rebounding high, set last year.
Another NJIT sophomore, Justin Garris, finished with 11 points, his second 11-point game in as many starts. Garris also made a game-high four steals.
Two team statistics, one positive and one negative, stood out for NJIT. The positive was in rebounding. Two days earlier, in their season-opening loss to Manhattan, the Highlanders were badly outrebounded, 44-27. Facing a Penn State team that was bigger and more athletically gifted than Manhattan, the Highlanders held their own and were outrebounded just 39-33 in the game, with a 22-22 standoff in the second half.
On the negative side, NJIT committed 24 turnovers in the game. Again, going back to the Manhattan game, the Highlanders had 17 first-half turnovers and trailed by 16 points. Committing just four miscues in the second half, they were much more competitive over the last 20 minutes against the Jaspers.
Against Penn State, NJIT was plus-one in first-half turnovers (10-to-11) and the score was close. In the second half the Highlanders had 14 turnovers to eight for Penn State and the Nittany Lions enjoyed a 41-18 advantage in points-off-turnovers for the game.
Penn State opened the game 5-0, but Gary Garris made a conventional three-point play and Jheryl Wilson made a three-pointer with 18:13 left in the half to give the Highlanders a 6-5 lead.
Penn State went back up, 12-9, but Lyn hit a three-pointer to tie it with 16:46 left.
The Nittany Lions later scored seven unanswered points, extending a 21-16 lead to 28-17 with 6:59 left in the first half. But the Highlanders rallied, 10-2, over the next 4:16, closing to 30-26 on Lyn's trey at 2:43.
However, Jones scored in the paint, Morrissey hit a three and Pringle made a jump shot in the space of 1:47, before NJIT's Teddy Schickel drilled a three-pointer of his own to reach the halftime score of 37-29.
Jackson and Battle were the high scorers at halftime for Penn State with eight each and Lyn's eight paced the Highlanders.
NJIT, which shot 5-for-11 on three-pointers in the first half, had some shots rim the basket early in the second half and Penn State continued to shoot well from long distance, pushing its lead up to 15, 47-32, on a Pringle jumper 4:28 into the second half.
Lyn came back and hit a pull-up jump shot in the lane with a hand in his face to make the score 47-34 with 14:58 left.
But that pretty basket was NJIT's last gasp, as the Highlanders went scoreless until Justin Garris connected on a jump shot with 8:02 left. The nearly seven-minute drought enabled Penn State to stretch its lead from 13 to 30, 64-34, before Garris broke the ice.
Garris' bucket sparked a mini-run of 6-0 for the Highlanders, who next got a free throw from Skema and a three from Garris that got them as close as they would get the rest of the way at 64-40 with 7:40 remaining.
However, Penn State's lead hovered in the high 20s and low 30s the rest of the way.
NJIT will continue play in the Philly Hoop Group Classic next Monday, November 24, with a 7 pm game at Towson University in Maryland.
The tournament actually gets to Philadelphia after Thanksgiving, with games on Friday and Saturday at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
