Penn State Tops Syracuse In NIT Consolation Game

NEW YORK (AP) – Lamar Stevens scored 20 points and Mike Watkins had a double-double to lead Penn State to an 85-64 win over Syracuse in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday. Watkins finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds – 10 offensive. Myreon Jones had 16 points, Curtis Jones added 14 off the bench, and Seth Lundy scored 10 for Penn State (6-1). Elijah Hughes led the Orange (4-3) with 19 points and Buddy Boeheim scored 14. Quincy Guerrier had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Marek Dolezaj added 10 points. Down by seven points at halftime, the Orange opened the second half with an 8-1 run over the first 2 1/2 minutes, capped by Hughes’ break-away two-handed jam to tie the game 35-all. Following Hughes’ dunk, the Nittany Lions outscored Syracuse 24-16 to go up 59-52 with under seven minutes to play. Minutes later, Lundy drilled a right side 3 as the shot clock expired to extend the lead to 66-56, and Jones’ fade-away, buzzer-beating 3 with seconds left gave Penn State its margin of victory. Syracuse’s frontcourt starters Marek Dolezaj and Bourama Sidibe battled foul trouble. Sidibe fouled out with 6:58 left in the second half, and Dolezaj fouled out with 1:28 left. The Orange missed 11 free throws and made just 6 of 24 from 3-point range. It was 106th meeting between the Big 10 and ACC programs, but just the first since Jan. 25, 1982.