Sam Sessoms scored 26 points and host Penn State beat visiting St. Francis of Brooklyn 74-59 Thursday night in University Park, Pa.

Sessoms delivered his most productive game since transferring from Binghamton to Penn State following the 2019-2020 season when he averaged 19.4 points. Before Thursday, his best game with Penn State was an 18-point showing on March 11 in a one-point loss to Wisconsin in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

Sessoms helped Penn State (2-1) bounce back from an ugly 81-56 loss at Massachusetts on Monday by hitting 10 of 13 shots. Sessoms took 12 of his shots inside the 3-point line and hit eight of Penn State's 15 layups.

John Harrar produced a double-double by collecting 14 points and 13 rebounds. Seth Lundy added 11 to offset committing six turnovers as Penn State shot 53.1 percent and survived committing 15 turnovers.

Patrick Emilien scored 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting as St. Francis (0-3) took its second loss to a Big Ten opponent this season. Emilien was the lone double-figure scorer for the Terriers, who shot 41 percent and misfired on 15 of 22 3-point tries.

Penn State did not dominate, never leading by more than 17 points, but it led for the final 36:15 and led by double digits for the final 21:11.

St. Francis got as close as 65-55 on a layup by Bahade Hadara with 5:51 remaining, but Penn State took a 74-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Myles Dread with 2:43 left for the Nittany Lions' final points.

Sessoms scored 16 points as Penn State shot 57.1 percent and held a 40-27 lead at halftime. The Terriers were within 30-25 on a 3-pointer by Larry Moreno with 2:55 left but Sessoms hit three layups and a jumper as the Nittany Lions ended the half with a 10-2 spurt.

--Field Level Media