Late surge fuels Penn State to win over Drexel

Penn State trailed Drexel for more than 35 minutes Saturday night.

The Dragons scored the game’s first nine points, led by as many as 17 in the first half and remained ahead for much of the second half.

But the Nittany Lions made a late run to beat Drexel 63-57 at the Palestra. Brandon Taylor’s layup gave Penn State its first lead with just more than five minutes to play, and the Nittany Lions led the rest of the way.

Payton Banks scored a career-high 20 points to lead Penn State (8-3). Taylor and Shep Garner each added 11. Josh Reaves finished with nine points, a game-high seven rebounds and three steals.

Drexel’s Terrell Allen scored 18 points, and Tavon Allen had 16.

Terrell Allen scored eight points to help Drexel take a 17-6 lead. Tavon Allen knocked down a 3-pointer to push the Dragons ahead 32-15 — their largest lead of the game.

The Nittany Lions responded with a 12-0 run, led by seven points by Reaves. Tavon Allen hit a pair of free throws to end the run and send the Dragons into the break with a 34-27 lead.

The Dragons pushed their lead to 10 in the first four minutes of the second half and led by eight before Penn State started to slice into the deficit with just more than 10 minutes to play.

The Nittany Lions went on a 7-0 run to pull within 44-43. A 3-pointer by Garner brought Penn State within one point again just more than two minutes later and set the stage for the team’s decisive run.

Taylor spun down the lane and finished a left-handed layup to give Penn State a 48-47 lead — its first of the night — with 5:09 to play. Drexel followed with a turnover, leading to a breakaway layup by Garner, and Banks completed a three-point play to push the Nittany Lions ahead by six points.

Banks scored nine straight points during the run. The redshirt sophomore finished 7 for 16 from the field and 5 for 5 from the free-throw line.

Notes: The Nittany Lions return to action Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. against Colorado in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. No. 18 Southern Methodist and Kent State are set to play at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the tournament’s other game. ... Walk-on Alex Zhao has been added to Penn State’s roster. Zhao, a freshman, played at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Late surge fuels Penn State to win over Drexel."