Penn State Hoops Swashbuckles Bahamas Pirates in First Game, Prepares to Face Canadian School in Second Game of Foreign Tour

Tuesday saw Penn State’s basketball team play the first of two exhibition games down in the Bahamas, with the Nittany Lions prevailing in blowout fashion, 113-65. Nick Kern led the way scoring-wise with 17 points, one of five Penn Staters to put up double figures, along with D’Marco Dunn pitching in 16 points himself, and Kanye Clary, Puff Johnson, and Jameel Brown all pitching in 13 each. Offensively, the Nittany Lions put up 26 assists on 40 made field goals, while defensively, the “havoc” pressure defensive system that Mike Rhoades seeks to employ, came up huge with 33 turnovers.

To be fair, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows early on, as PSU missed their share of layups and other easy shots, while also going an abysmal 3-for-21 from three-point range in the first half. However, the team got the jitters out of their system after halftime and began to light it up in the second half, with Dunn especially impressing with his ability to shoot from downtown. Ace Baldwin may have been quiet scoring-wise with only four points, but was very active in grabbing steals and dropping dimes to his teammates.

Below are a couple links to Coach Rhoades’ post-game interview and highlight reel for PSU’s official team account. The Nittany Lions will tip off today at 4:30 PM EST against University of Victoria (Canada) for the second game of their foreign tour. Livestreaming will be provided by FloHoops($)