Dec. 4, 2010

Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, PA - Talor Battle scored 31 points, including a pair of big 3-pointers in the final four minutes, to help Penn State pull away for a 77-73 win over Duquesne at Bryce Jordan Center.

The win upped the Nittany Lions' record to 6-2. Duquesne, which got 23 points from Damian Saunders and 19 from Bill Clark, dropped to 3-3.

Battle, who was 12-of-18 from the field, buried his fourth 3-pointer with 4:02 left to give PSU a 65-60 lead. He added a deep 3-pointer with 2:33 left to put the Nittany Lions up eight. Duquesne, which missed four of six free throws, including the front end of a 1-and-1 in the final 3:34, would get no closer than four the rest of the way.

Penn State shot 60.0 and turned it over just once in the second half.

"I thought we did a good job offensively," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart of the Dukes who assisted on 20 of 25 field goals. "We moved the ball and got good looks. We also fought on the offensive glass. We just didn't guard very well down the stretch. He [Battle] is a game-changer. He was unbelievable tonight."

Jeff Brooks, who scored 14 of his 17 in the second half, was the only other Penn State player in double figures.

Saunders, who was 8-of-11 from the field, tied his career high with four 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds and four blocks - the last of which broke the Duquesne career record of 229 set by Derrick Alston (1991-94). Clark, who added 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double, made five 3-pointers for the fourth time in six games.

B.J. Monteiro added 14 and T.J. McConnell, playing with a mid-foot sprain, added six assists in 31 turnover-free minutes.

Duquesne, which went 14-of-31 from the 3-point arc, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first four minutes in jumping out to a 10-3 lead. Penn State tied it at 18-18 on a Battle 3-pointer and built a five-point lead before the Dukes rallied to take a 33-30 halftime lead on a McConnell 3-pointer just before the first half buzzer.

There were three ties and three lead changes in the first 14 minutes of the second half before Penn State took a 59-57 lead on a Brooks basket. PSU upped its lead to five before Clark made it 62-60 with a 3-pointer at the 4:08 mark. It was then that Battle took over.

Duquesne, which shot 40.3 percent, went 9-of-17 from the foul line. Penn State shot 54.9 percent and was 16-of-31 from the charity stripe. The Dukes had 15 turnovers to 14 for the Nittany Lions.

Duquesne returns to action at Green Bay on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 8:05 (EST).

NOTES

• Damian Saunders became Duquesne's all-time leading shot blocker with his four rejections ... Saunders, who now had 230 career blocks, broke the old mark set by Derrick Alston in 114 games from 1991-94 ... this was Saunders' 101st game ... he broke the record when he swatted a Taran Buie layup attempt with 11:26 to go ... Saunders also had two steals to up his career total to 210 ... he needs nine to become DU's all-time leader (Kenya Hunter had 218 from 1993-96).

• Saunders' four 3-pointers (4-of-5) tied his career high set vs. Saint Joseph's as a freshman (4-of-6) and tied at Saint Joseph's as a sophomore (4-of-7).

• Bill Clark posted his seventh career double-double (19-10) ... it was his first this season ... Clark hit all five of his 3-pointers (5-of-9 for the game) in scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half.

• Duquesne was without forward sophomore forward Andre Marhold (strained groin) ... returning starting point guard Eric Evans (Oct. 27 foot surgery, out 6-8 weeks) has yet to see action this season.