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Penn State Men’s Basketball: Nittany Lions Roll Past Canisius 97-67

Penn State men’s basketball used a 20-2 run to open the second half en route to an eventual 97-67 win over Canisius on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions are now 8-3 on the season with just two more games remaining in the 2022 calendar year.

Canisius played fairly well in the first half, shooting 14-for-28 from the field making five shots from beyond the arc. The Griffins would lead by as many as nine in the first half behind the hot shooting start but Canisius’ 20-11 lead with 12:53 to go in the first half would quickly evaporate as Penn State went on a 15-6 run to tie the game with 7:59 to go in the half.

All told Penn State would respond to Canisius’ lead with a 31-16 run to close out the first half and take a 42-36 margin into the break. Forward Seth Lundy would leave the game in the first half with an injury but totaled 10 points and six rebounds in his 13 minutes of play. Lundy would return to the bench in the second half wearing street clothes but coach Micah Shrewsberry was optimistic following the game that Lundy’s injury was not significant.

Leading by six heading into the second half Penn State opened the final 20 minutes of regulation with a 20-2 run over the opening 4:52 of the half to take a 64-38 lead in the early stages of the half.

The Nittany Lions scored 52 points in the paint while still shooting 13-for-22 from beyond the arc. Jalen Pickett led the way with 16 points and nine assists while transfer Andrew Funk went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc for 15 points of his own. Kanye Clary added 10 points to his season total as 13 different Nittany Lions found the bottom of the basket on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman big man Kebba Njie had a solid outing after some struggles in early Big Ten play racking up three dunks on the way to an eight point, eight rebounding outing. Penn State finished the afternoon with just three turnovers to go with 22 assists. The Nittany Lions will face Quinnipiac on Thursday before facing Delaware State on December 29th the following Thursday to finish up the out of conference slate.