Banks, Garner lead Penn State to victory
STATE COLLEGE – Shep Garner might’ve been selling himself short when he said with a straight face on Saturday he doesn’t consider himself that athletic.
There’s plenty of evidence against that, especially in Penn State’s leading scorer’s wrists.
Garner sparked the Nittany Lions with hot shooting early, took a heavy charge and sank critical free throws late, and his 18 points helped lift Penn State to a 71-67 win over Illinois Saturday.
“Shep really set the tone for us,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “To make a huge shot and make his free throws down the stretch there, that shows where his head is right now and his mindset. I think we see an emerging leader.”
Payton Banks added 17 points, Tony Carr picked up 13 and Mike Watkins chipped in 10 and pulled down nine rebounds to help Penn State (4-5 Big Ten, 12-10) snap a 3-game losing skid.
They couldn’t have done it without those free throws from Garner as Illinois (3-6, 13-9) closed the gap after trailing by 20 at halftime.
Malcolm Hill led Illinois with 19 points and Jalen Colman-Lands added 13. Coleman-Lands cut the lead to 65-62 with a 3-pointer with 1:58 left before Garner hit four free throws in the final 38 seconds to keep it out of reach.
Richmond 101, Duquesne 90: T.J. Cline scored Richmond’s first-ever triple-double with 34 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists, ShawnDre’ Jones added 30 points and fueled a game-breaking second-half run, and the Spiders beat Duquesne 101-90 Saturday.
Julius Johnson set career highs with 16 points and four 3s and Nick Sherod added 12 for the Spiders (7-2 Atlantic 10, 13-8), who used a season-high 24 assists to make 31 of 58 field-goal attempts (53.4 percent).
Duquesne (2-7, 9-13) led 57-52 in the second half after Emile Blackman’s 3 capped a 10-0 run, but Richmond tied it at 71 on Jones’ 3-pointer, which sparked a 13-2 run capped by his 3, for an 81-73 lead. Duquesne closed to 89-82 on a 3 by Mike Lewis II, but got no closer the rest of the way.
Cline scored his second career 30-point game on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor and 10 of 14 from the line.
Richmond led 46-44 at halftime after shooting 60 percent from the floor.
Isiaha Mike scored 23 points, Blackman had 22 and Lewis 21 for Duquesne, which has lost five straight.