By The Associated Press
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Talor Battle scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half and Penn State withstood a furious rally by Virginia in the final minute to beat the Cavaliers 69-66 Monday night in the opener of the Big Ten-ACC challenge.
The Nittany Lions (5-2) led 55-43 with about 4 minutes left, but a banked-in 3-pointer by Sylven Landesberg and three by Sammy Zeglinski in the final 1:31 got the Cavaliers to within 67-66 with 5.7 seconds left before Battle's two free throws produced the final score.
Penn State became the first Big Ten team to win three straight in the annual matchup of conferences. The Nittany Lions beat Virginia Tech in 2007 and won at Georgia Tech last year.
Landesberg led Virginia (4-3) with 18 points, Mike Scott had 17 and Zeglinski 16, including 11 in the final 1:17. He missed a leaning 3-pointer for the tie at the buzzer.
n Bloomsburg 75,
PSU-Hazleton 44
BLOOMSBURG -- Larry Webster scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Bloomsburg to a win over Penn State-Hazleton in the first game at the newly renovated Nelson Field House.
The Huskies controlled the action from the opening tip scoring just 10 seconds into the game on a jumper by Ruben Britt. Bloomsburg quickly pushed its lead to 16 points at 19-3 with the help of back-to-back baskets from both Britt and Ed Hall.
Later leading 27-7 on a dunk by Webster, the Lions trimmed the deficit 11 points at 33-22 with 10 seconds to go in the half. Webster, though, closed out the half by tipping in a miss at the buzzer giving the Huskies a 13-point halftime cushion.
Early in the second half the Huskies pushed the lead to 19 points at 41-22 on another layup by Webster before the Lions once again chipped away and cut the lead to 11 after a pair of free throws from Reills Reichwein with 13:48 to play in the game. Bloomsburg then exploded and went on a 22-4 run over the next 10 minutes to open a 29-point lead at 63-34 with Jesse Betar closing out the big run with a layup.
Along with Webster's 21 points, Hall finished with 11 points, while Trevon Johnson chipped in with 10 points for Bloomsburg (1-2).
WOMEN
n Bloomsburg 85,
Wilmington 62
BLOOMSBURG -- Kelsey Gallagher scored a game-high 23 points and Dana Wieller added 20 points to lead Bloomsburg to a win over Wilmington. The game was the first in the newly renovated Nelson Field House.
The teams traded leads in the opening minutes of the game before the Huskies (3-1) went on a 10-2 run grab a 19-12 advantage with 9:22 to go in the first half. Gallagher had a three-point play and a 3-pointer in the run for Bloomsburg.
The Wildcats (1-3) came right back with an 11-3 run of their own to take what would be their final lead of the game at 23-22 with 6:20 to go in the half.
Bloomsburg countered with a 12-1 run to take control of the contest. Kayla Oxenrider put the Huskies on top with a jumper 24-23, then Tanejha Smith and Christine Serta followed with layups with Wieller drilling a 3-pointer in the rally to open up a 34-24 lead.
After Bloomsburg extended its lead to 41-27 on a Wieller 3-pointer to start the second half, the Wildcats cut the deficit to eight, 49-41, with 14:44 to play on a basket by Kim Parker.
