COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore forward Seth Lundy's 31 points led the Penn State men's basketball team to a 66-61 victory over Maryland Sunday night at the XFINITY Center. The Nittany Lions (10-13, 7-12) scored 43 points in the second half to overcome an early 16-point deficit and sweep the season series with the Terps (15-12, 9-11). It was the only the second win in 10 games at College Park, the first coming in December 1962.
"That was a great, great team win," said Penn State men's basketball interim head coach Jim Ferry. "Some of our guys that have been playing really well for us didn't have great nights tonight, but guys like Seth Lundy and Sam Sessoms really stepped up and everybody came in off the bench and played really hard. We really showed great character and stuck together like we have all year…The guys kept fighting, kept defending, kept playing for each other and I kept telling them, keep playing to the next media timeout, next media timeout. We're going to get there under-four and we're going to win the game. They kept believing in it and kept trusting each other.
"I'm really proud of the effort these guys gave forth because this is a really good Maryland team," Ferry said. "To beat them on the road, and to do it the way we did it, because, obviously, we have had leads late, and haven't made a ton of shots late, and tonight, we did it, right at the right time, headed into the tournament."
Over the final 2:40, Penn State outscored the Terrapins 15-4 and Maryland's lone basket came on an uncontested dunk with one second remaining in the game.
Penn State's resiliency was on full display as the Nittany Lions overcame a 14-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Nittany Lions used an 11-0 run, which included six free throws, four from senior forward John Harrar and two from Lundy, to trim the lead to three, 50-47.
The Terps pushed their lead back to six with 2:51 left and Lundy's fourth trey of the game cut the lead to three, 57-54, and sparked the Nittany Lions' 15-4 run to close the game. After two of Harrar's free throws to pull Penn State within one, 57-56, Lundy hit a jumper in the paint for the
Nittany Lions' first lead of the game at 58-57 with just 1:23 to go. His fifth triple, with just 32 seconds left, put Penn State up by four, 61-57.
Myreon Jones added 17 points, making all seven of his free throws in the second stanza, four in the final 22 seconds.
Big plays on defense, 13 points off turnovers and a 22-12 second-half rebounding advantage, helped Penn State rally. The Nittany Lions attacked the offensive glass (10-1) and had 12 second-chance points to just two for the Terps.
Lundy was the offensive catalyst for the Nittany Lions in the first half, scoring Penn State's first 11 points after a slow start. The sophomore forward's layup at the 14:28 mark in the first half ended Maryland's 12-0 run to begin the game as Penn State missed its first nine shot attempts.
The Terps shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, and had a 16-point lead with 5:33 left in the period, but missed five of their last seven shots to allow the Nittany Lions to stay in the hunt. Lundy's offensive efforts, in addition to treys by Brockington and Jones, clipped the double-digit deficit to six with under two minutes to play in the half. The final two Terp field goals produced a 33-23 score going into the locker room.
Aaron Wiggins turned in a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) for Maryland.
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