UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Twenty-six points from senior Sam Sessoms and the second double-double of the season from graduate student John Harrar helped lead the Penn State men's basketball team to a 74-59 victory over St. Francis Brookyln Thursday evening inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
"Winning is hard at all levels and the one thing you learn when you coach for a really long time – not to say that I've coached for a really long time, but I'm upwards of 20 years already in my career – you learn that winning is hard and you learn to celebrate every single time," said Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry. "No matter what you feel like, no matter what it looks like, you learn to celebrate it, and then you've got to learn from it. We'll look at it and then see where we can get better, see what we can do better, and we'll take tomorrow off to rest our legs, try and get healthy, and then get back to work and get ready for Monday."
Sessoms led all players with 26 points, a personal best as a Nittany Lion for the second-year transfer. Harrar posted his second double-double of the season and eighth of his career with 14 points on 5-of-6 from the field and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Junior Seth Lundy added 11 points while senior Jalanni White made his first start as a Nittany Lion and recorded eight points off a 4-of-5 from the field with seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After initially trailing 6-2 to start the contest, Penn State went on a 12-5 run through the under-12 media timeout to take a 14-11 lead and never looked back.
- The Nittany Lions led by nine, 24-15, midway through the first half thanks to two quick 3-pointers by Lundy prior to the under-8 media timeout.
- Sam Sessoms would then score Penn State's final six points of the half, and totaled 14 in the final six minutes, to put the home team ahead by 13 at the break, 40-27.
- The second half started with back-and-forth scoring as the Nittany Lions would lead by as much as 16.
- Both teams would see periods of scoring droughts through the second half as Penn State outscored Saint Francis Brooklyn, 34-32, in the second stanza to maintain a double-digit lead into victory.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions defense held the Terriers below their season scoring average of 65.5 with 59 points Thursday.
- Penn State held its opponent under 60 points for the second time this season.
- Penn State dominated the glass for the third-straight game, out-rebounding the Terriers 36-26.
- The Nittany Lions shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the field and 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the free throw line.
- Sessoms recorded his 29th career 20-plus performance and his first as a Nittany Lion. Sessoms' 26 points is a personal best while playing for the Blue and White.
- Sessoms also surpassed the 1,400 career-points mark and now totals 1,403.
- Harrar registered his second double-double of the season and the eighth of his career as he finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
- With his 5-for-6 effort from the floor, Harrar is now shooting a blistering 71.4 percent (15-for-21) on the season.
- Harrar also put up his third-straight game with double-digit rebounds. He has had two other three-game streaks in his career with 10-plus rebounds, both last season during Big Ten Conference play (1/21-1/27/21; 2/5-2/14/21).
- Jalanni White made his first start as a Nittany Lion after playing off the bench in the previous two games. He went 4-of-5 from the field for eight points and added seven rebounds and two assists, marks that are all season highs.
- Penn State moved to 2-0 at home this season.
- The Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 all-time against St. Francis Brooklyn.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Forward John Harrar and guard Sam Sessoms
UP NEXT
Penn State remains within the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center for a Monday night match-up against Cornell. Tipoff on Monday, Nov. 22 is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on Big Ten Network.
The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.