MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Penn State senior guard Josh Reaves scored the winning basket with one second left on the clock after West Virginia tied the game at 82, and West Virginia's final inbound pass did not reach its mark as Penn State took the hard-fought 84-82 win.
Junior forward Lamar Stevens posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Nittany Lion freshmen Myles Dread and Rasir Bolton also scored in double figures as Penn State topped 13th-ranked West Virginia in a charity exhibition game Saturday, No. 3.
"What an amazing day, to come together and raise money for those in need. First and foremost, what we were trying to do was help those people affected by the hurricanes," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "To be able to come on the road and play in this type of environment, it is so valuable for our team, we have a couple of veterans and a couple of young guys, so to be able find out who we are and what our identity could be, we're going to learn so much from this tape."
All proceeds from Saturday's charity exhibition game at WVU Coliseum will benefit the American Red Cross' hurricane relief efforts after two devastating category 4 hurricanes struck the United States earlier this fall.
Bolton, who finished the afternoon with 15 points, scored six in a stretch of 47 seconds to give Penn State a five-point lead with just 1:39 to go before WVU's Chase Harler knocked down a 3-pointer and Esa Ahmad converted a layup for the tie at 82.
Stevens' fourth personal foul set up a possible four-point play for West Virginia that would have tied the game at 74 with just over four minutes remaining, but the free throw was missed. In the span 41 seconds earlier in the second half, three Nittany Lions, Trent Buttrick, John Harrar and Reaves, had all picked up their fourth personal fouls with Stevens now going to the bench with his fourth.
Celebrating his birthday with a team-leading 23 points, Dread scored seven of Penn State's eight points midway through the second half to help stave off a Mountaineer attack and keep the lead. WVU tied the game at 66 with just under seven minutes to play, but Reaves found Dread for a key 3-pointer for a 69-66 advantage.
Penn State lead for more than 38 minutes, but the Mountaineers chipped away at the Nittany Lions' lead all afternoon. WVU trimmed its deficit to one on an Ahmad layup after a steal at 3:22 in the second half then took a one-point lead at 2:35 on a layup by Sagaba Konate.
After a missed Nittany Lion jumper on the next possession, starting point guard Jamari Wheeler snatched the ball away from WVU and got Bolton the ball for a banked-in trey and the 79-77 Penn State lead. That combination added two more points for a 82-77 Penn State score as Wheeler's third steal of the afternoon led to a Bolton layup and a total 12 fast break points to only two for WVU.
Penn State's 13 3-point baskets saw seven different individuals recording at least one, compared to WVU's team total of eight. Both teams missed eight free throws as the Mountaineers were 26-34 from the line, going 15-16 in the second period, and the Nittany Lions were 15-23.
Penn State climbed to a 10-0 lead top open the game and led by as many as 14 points in the first half. Dread had 14 points at the break off 5-7 shooting from the floor and a 4-6 mark from behind the 3-point line while Stevens had 11 points and six rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot only 30 percent from the floor in the first period, ending the first half with seven-straight missed baskets and going 1-9 into the break.
Four West Virginia players scored in double figures with Esa Ahmad leading all scorers with 25 points off 8-15 shooting from the field and eight free throws. Ahmad and Konate each had seven rebounds to share the high mark for WVU.
The 2018-19 regular season begins Friday, Nov. 9 as the Nittany Lions play host to North Florida in the first of two home games in the U.S. Regional of the Cancun Challenge. Prior to tipoff vs. North Florida, the Penn State men's basketball program will unveil its 2018 National Invitation Tournament championship banner along with a host of other pregame festivities. The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start time.
The Nittany Lions will play 15 home games in the BJC in 2018-19, including 10 Big Ten Conference games as part of the league's new 20-game schedule format. Season and single-game tickets are also available for purchase at gopsusports.com/tickets or by calling 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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.
