Penn State men’s basketball holds off Lehigh in 74-65 win

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –– Penn State men’s basketball held off the Lehigh Mountain Hawks after a slow start in a 74-65 victory Friday night.

Both teams struggled to shoot the ball throughout the contest and numerous turnovers resulted in sloppy play that made the game closer than anticipated.

“It’s a little bit of a gut check game,” head coach Mike Rhoades said. “It was really good to play a team like that.”

Penn State was coming off a dominating performance in a win over Delaware State while Lehigh was looking to get back on track after a tough loss to Cornell.

The Nittany Lions got out to a fast start and quickly took the lead behind a barrage of made shots by sophomore guard Kanye Clary.

Lehigh kept it close through their tough defense and interior presence offensively in the paint.

The first half continued to go back and forth with neither side able to fully take control despite Lehigh leading for a majority of the first half.

At halftime, the score was all knotted up at 38 and the Nittany Lions were in danger of being upset on their home court.

Coming out of the locker room after halftime, Ace Baldwin Jr. knew he needed to make something happen for his team.

He had not started the game for the first time in his collegiate career, yet he felt comfortable and ready to make plays.

“Whatever they need me to do, that’s what I’m going to do,” Baldwin Jr. said. “It felt great. I was loose. It was cool.”

Behind the elite ball handling and playmaking of Baldwin Jr., Penn State took the lead early and began to separate themselves.

Baldwin Jr. finished with 16 points, one rebound, two assists and three steals with nine of his points coming in the second half.

Lehigh hung around with the Nittany Lions and turned to Keith Higgins Jr. for their scoring. He ended the game with 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field.

The defense for Penn State took over and sealed the game for the Nittany Lions. Nick Kern and Kanye Clary teamed up for back-to-back steals and layups to fire up the Penn State faithful.

Clary scored a team-high 20 points in the game while also pitching in two rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals.

The blue and white extended their lead to 10 with under five minutes remaining and never looked back.

Qudus Wahab all but secured the win for Penn State with a late bucket and a defensive rebound to end the game.

Wahab secured a double-double in the game with another stellar performance of 11 points and 18 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.

“I’m just playing with energy and going for every rebound I can,” Wahab said. “It’s my last year of college, so why not.”

It was not a flawless game from Penn State by any means, but a win is a win in the eyes of Rhoades and his coaching staff.

The Nittany Lions struggled offensively and shot just 45% from the field and committed another 15 turnovers in the contest.

“I thought we would shoot the ball better and I think we will,” Rhoades said. “The shooting has got to get better and we have to take care of the ball.”

Lehigh falls to 0-2 on the season while Penn State improves to 2-0 and has started their season off on the right foot.

“I’m just really proud of our guys,” Rhaodes said. “What a great start to a full weekend and I’m glad that I’m a part of it.”

Rhoades and his team will enjoy a busy sports weekend in Happy Valley and will look to continue their success next Tuesday against an in-state opponent in St. Francis (Pa.).

Thomas English is a third-year broadcast journalism major. To contact him, email tfe5082@psu.edu.