Clary shines in BJC: Penn State defeats Le Moyne

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State got back in the win column on Thursday night, going wire-to-wire to defeat Le Moyne, 72-55. The Nittany Lions led the entire way, with a fast start propelling the team to a much-needed win.

The fast start was important on both ends, as the defense helped shut down Le Moyne’s offensive attack, as well as the Nittany Lions knocking down nine threes in the first half.

Head coach Mike Rhoades knew a fast start was important, and was very happy with the way his team came out in the first half.

“I said just be where your feet are for the next 40 minutes and be about your team,” Rhoades said. “Be about doing your part to help your team win so we got off to a great start.”

It was a balanced attack offensively, with 9 different Nittany Lions scoring. The team was led by sophomore guard Kanye Clary, who scored a game-high 20 points on 50% shooting.

Clary attacked from everywhere, knocking down four triples, as well as being very aggressive attacking the zone defense of the Dolphins in the second half.

“Coach told us to just keep attacking,” Clary said. “The shots we were taking were good looks and they were going to fall so that’s what I did.”

The offense was not the only strong point for the Nittany Lions, as the defense was just as impressive. The Nittany Lions held the Dolphins to just 36.4% shooting from the field, and 26.1% from behind the arc.

A big reason for the strong defensive performance was shutting down Le Moyne star Luke Sutherland. The star forward came into the game averaging 16 points per game, but was held to just four points on 2-12 shooting.

Penn State forward Puff Johnson was a huge reason why, who drew the assignment and played very strong in his role.

“I thought his defense was really good today,” Rhoades said. “Eight points and eight rebounds and we need that from him.”

Along with the strong defensive performance on Sutherland was the battle of the boards, which the Nittany Lions dominated in the win. Penn State was +12 in the rebounding battle, as well as +8 on the offensive glass.

The Nittany Lions were coming off getting outrebounded 54-32 in their overtime loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. The blue and white were able to fix some of their rebounding issues on Thursday.

Penn State sits at 6-6 on the year and has some momentum to close out 2023. Rhoades and his team will close out their non-conference slate on Friday, December 29 when they welcome Rider inside the Bryce Jordan Center. You can listen to it live here.

Adam Sheetz is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.