CANCUN, Mexico – Penn State roared out to a double-digit lead in the first half and never looked back, defeating Wright State 77-59 over in the first game of the Riviera Division bracket in the Cancun Challenge Tuesday night. Junior forward Lamar Stevens posted his fourth-straight 20-point game of the 2018-19 season with 25 points, going 10-15 from the field.
Penn State (3-1) and Bradley (4-1) will meet in the Cancun Challenge championship game at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 21. The game will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network.
"I was really proud of our team on how we responded after DePaul," said Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers. "Our guys were dialed in and focused. Jamari Wheeler really set the tone for our team tonight. His defense was spectacular…We were able to withstand our foul trouble and guys stepped up and it was nice to see I could stretch it a little bit further down the bench and still come out on top."
Stevens was one of four Nittany Lions in double figures with senior guard Josh Reaves recording his first double-double of the season and third of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Myles Dread had 13 points, a Penn State 2018-19 season-best six steals and three assists.
Sophomore point guard Jamari went 4-5 from the field, including two key 3-pointers, and had four assists in 35 minutes of playing time.
The Nittany Lions came out with precision shooting from the field, going 8-9 by the first timeout and were 61.5 percent (16-26) and 54.2 percent in the second period for a 58.0 percentage for the game. On the defensive side, Penn State held the Raiders to under 40 percent shooting from the field, 39.6 percent for the game.
The dominating performance gave Penn State the advantage in the box score in all but three categories as PSU had more turnovers, 16 to 15, more fouls, 22-16, and fewer blocked shots (0-2). The Nittany Lions capitalized on the Raider turnovers with 21 points coming off those miscues.
Wright State cut the deficit to 12 points with 8:24 remaining in the second half, but back-to-back 3-point baskets by Dread and Wheeler put the Nittany Lions back up by 16.
Four Raiders scored in double figures with Bill Wampler with 17, Loudon Love finishing the night with 14, 10 coming in the second half. Mark Hughes adding 11 second-half points and Cole Gentry also had 11. Love had a double-double with 10 rebounds to share the game-high rebounding honors with Reaves.
Penn State and Bradley have not met in this century, but have met five times previously with the Braves holding a 3-2 series record over the Nittany Lions. The last two contests were won by the home team with Bradley topping Penn State 63-54 in Peoria in December 1998 and Penn State winning 75-53 in the Bryce Jordan Center on December 1996.
The last neutral site meeting was in San Jose, California, with Penn State taking two games in the Cable Car Classic with a 75-72 win over Bradley on the final day on Dec. 30, 1995.
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.
