Shrewsberry Era Begins With 75-59 Win Over Youngstown State

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: November 13, 2021

Photos by Tim Weight

Lundy, Sessoms, Harrar lead Penn State to season-opening victory

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State men’s basketball team opened its highly-anticipated 2021-22 campaign presented by Highmark Health with a 75-59 win over Youngstown State on Wednesday evening inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

The win marked the first under the leadership of Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry.

“I’m proud of what we did and I’m happy for our guys,” said Shrewsberry. “I want to really thank the students, all the students that came out, and all the fans. There were times where we needed to dig in and gets stops, and I think that they helped us in that way. They propelled us in that way, and that’s something that we need each and every night. I said it the other night – gritty not pretty, and that’s who we want to be and I thought we were that tonight. I’m excited about the first one and I’m ready to get back to work for the next one.”

Junior Seth Lundy led all players with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Senior Sam Sessoms added 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half, to go along with five rebounds and a game- and team-best eight assists.

Graduate student John Harrar registered his seventh career double-double with 16 points and a tied career-best 14 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State scored the first five points of the game on an opening three from Seth Lundy in the first 20 seconds of the game and an offensive rebound and put-back by John Harrar with Sam Sessoms credited with both assists.
After an initial five-point advantage for the Nittany Lions less than two minutes in, the next 10 or so minutes would see a back-and-forth contest with seven lead changes.
The Nittany Lions broke the trend by going on an 18-5 run in the final 10:57 of the stanza, holding the Penguins to shoot 2-of-14 from the field, to take a 35-26 lead at the break.
Penn State started the second half the way it ended the first, going on a 10-4 run with five points by Jalen Pickett in the first four minutes.
Youngstown State was able to cut the deficit back down to single digits and get within six points with 7:12 remaining before the Nittany Lions went on a 10-0 run in a three-minute span to go back up by 16 and force the Penguins to call a timeout.
Down the stretch, the Penn State defense held the visitors to 2-of-12 from the field for an 18-point victory.

GAME NOTES

Peter and Ann Tombros Endowed Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry earned his first-career Division I head coaching victory and first win at the helm of the Nittany Lions.
Penn State won its season opener for the fifth-straight year.
The Nittany Lions are now 2-0 all-time against the Penguins of Youngstown State.
Three players made their Penn State debuts Wednesday evening: Jalen Pickett (starter), Jalanni White and Jaheam Cornwall.
Penn State held Youngstown State to 59 points, the lowest in a season opener since allowing 46 against Maryland Eastern Shore in 2019-20 (11/5/19).
The Nittany Lions dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Penguins, 43-25.
Harrar recorded his seventh career double-double with 16 points and a career high-tying 14 rebounds.
Lundy, the team’s returning leading scorer from a season ago, led the Nittany Lions with 23 points for his fifth career 20-plus point performance.
Sessoms started game at Penn State after being a key sixth man last season. Sessoms finished with 17 points, including 14 in the second half.
Sessoms added a game-high eight assists to go along with 5 rebounds and two steals.
Jalanni White reached the 500-career point mark with a layup midway in the first half. White finished with four points in his Penn State debut.
Dallion Johnson tied his career high with three points on a 3-pointer in the first half.