UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Army (4-4) trimmed a 15-point first-half deficit to just two points in the second half, but Penn State (5-4) was able to withstand the rally and go on to a 78-70 victory at the Bryce Jordan Center Saturday afternoon. Senior forward Ella Ellis posted his second straight 23-point effort for the Black Knights.
Army outscored the Nittany Lions in the second half, but an early deficit was too much to overcome. Ellis was 4-for-8 from three-point range and knocked down nine of his 11 free throw tries. Freshman guard Kyle Toth scored 13 points, his second straight double-digit outing, including three three-pointers. Toth led the team with five rebounds. Rookie guard Dylan Cox handed out a career-high seven assists and made three steals.
D.J. Newbill led the Nittany Lions with 19 points and five assists. Jermaine Marshall added 16 points, while Brandon Tayloer and Ross Travis scored 14 each. Travis completed the double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Army shot 38.9 percent for the game (21-54), while Penn State knocked down better than half its field goal tries (29-57). The Nittany Lions also held a 41-27 rebounding edge.
Penn State scored the first seven points of the game and led 15-10 with 11:38 left in the first half. An 8-0 run by the Nittany Lions stretched their lead to 23-10 following a three-pointer by Marshall with 9:52 on the clock. They extended their lead to 15 points on two occasions, taking a 33-18 lead with 4:20 left in the opening half.
Army scored six of the next seven points to make it a 10-point game and went into intermission down by 12 at 40-28. Ellis led the Black Knights with 14 points in the first 20 minutes.
Newbill scored the first basket of the second half, but five straight by Ellis trimmed the Army deficit to 42-33 with 18:24 remaining. Penn State went back up 11 points on a three-pointer by Nick Colella. Penn State led 48-38 when the Black Knights used a 12-4 run that included a three-point play by Cox, to get within two at 52-50 with 12:00 showing on the clock.
That was as close as Army would get as Colella stopped the momentum with another three-pointer. The Black Knights pulled back within three points, but a 12-1 Penn State run iced the game for the Nittany Lions. Army was able to pull back within double digits, setting the final margin on a three-pointer by freshman Kyle Wilson with 16 seconds left.
Army wraps up a stretch of five road contests in a span of six games on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at NJIT.
Game Notes: Matt Gramling (ankle) and Josh Herbeck (head) returned to the lineup after missing the Marist game … after falling behind by 15 points, Army outscored PSU 52-45 over the final 24:20 … Kyle Wilson has scored at least nine points in all eight games … Ella Ellis moved into 18th place on Army’s career scoring ledger with 1,198 points … Herbeck’s two three-pointers moved him into a tie for eighth on Army’s career list (130) … Ellis has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and 40 of the last 41 outings … Saturday marked the fourth time in his career that Ellis has scored 20-or-more points in at least two straight games … freshmen accounted for 30 of Army’s 70 points.
Leave a Reply