It wasn't pretty in the second half, but the Nittany Lions' men's basketball squad pulled out a narrow win over Chattanooga to improve to 2-0 on the year. The 97-93 final score reflects a second half dominated by the Mocs. However, the story of the game for Penn State was their ability to get to the free-throw line at an incredible rate. In fact, they broke the program record for free throws made in the waning moments of the game as Roko Prkacin sank the Nittany Lion's 43rd free throw of the night with 0.3 seconds left.
Speaking of Prkacin, after his first game with the team saw him score the fourth-most points by a player in a Big Ten debut, he had half the production but another efficient night. He scored 14 points and only missed one of his six
field goal attempts on the night. The leading scorer for the Nittany Lions may have been a bit of a surprise, though. Josh Reed had 25 points on the line due to his ability to get to the free-throw line. 15 of his 25 points came from the stripe.
It was a similar story for Prkacin's Croatian counterpart Ivan Juric, who scored 15 points and had 10 free-throw makes. To round out the top scorers, French freshman Francois Wibaut had 14 points. However, it wasn't always easy going for the Nittany Lions, especially in the second half. After outscoring Chattanooga 54-31 in the first half, the Mocs were able to get back into the game by outscoring the Nittany Lions 62-43 in the second half.
They were led by the stellar 3-point shooting of Koby McDowell-White, who made 10 3-pointers on the night and finished with 28 points. Matt Hampton finished with 25 points, and Lenny Anigbata had 19.
The Nittany Lions will next play in-state rival Pittsburgh on Sunday, November 8 at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to commemorate the iconic venue's 100th anniversary. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State basketball holds off Chattanooga, sets program record
