Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A coach could hardly ask for more from his team in a season opener, as the Susquehanna men's basketball team took down Penn College 92-60 in the opening round of the Crusaders' annual Pepsi/Weis Tip-Off Tournament.

The win improved SU's record to 5-0 against Penn College.

SU (1-0) was firing on all cylinders, putting up its most points since Jan. 22 of last season thanks to a 54.5 percent showing from the floor and a career night from sophomore forward J.T. Wilson (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXII Regional), who put up 27 points in his 25 minutes of action on 12-of-15 shooting.

Joining Wilson in double figures was senior Rob Estep (York, Pa./West York/Hobart), who added 17, and junior Spenser Spencer (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside), who finished with 11.

SU was generous with distributing the ball, racking up 21 assists, with eight from Harvey Pannell (Bloomfiled, Conn./St. Thomas More).

The Crusaders also played solid defense, limiting Penn to 60 points, and just 27 in the second half, while pulling down 37 boards. Freshman center Harley Sellinger (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) accounted for 11 of those and led all players with six offensive rebounds.

It was the Wildcats who actually jumped out to the early lead and scored the first four points of the game. Nico Italiani added a trey with 17:19 on the clock to up his team's lead to five (7-2).

That marked the largest lead Penn would hold, however, as SU tied it at nine on a Wilson layup three minutes later.

After another brief tie at 11-all, Wilson added his second-straight layup to make it 13-11. SU held on to that lead until Penn knotted it at 25 with 6:37 remaining in the opening half.

Wilson broke a 29-29 deadlock with 4:41 on the clock. His basket sparked a 12-4 Susquehanna run to close out the half that gave the Crusaders a 41-33 lead at the midway point. During that stretch, SU held the Wildcats scoreless for a five-minute stretch.

The second half was all Susquehanna. The Crusaders quickly upped their lead to 17 points (55-38) after Wilson's trey less than three minutes into the second-half action. SU saw its first glimpse at a 20-point advantage on yet another Wilson layup at the 15:38 mark that made it a 61-40 ballgame.

A three-point play from E.J. Duncan (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Pope John XXII Regional) gave his squad a 27-point edge (77-50) with more than eight minutes left in the game. Penn never pulled any closer than 23 points and a Mike Perillo (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) layup with 1:10 remaining not only marked the final points of the game, but also gave his squad its largest lead of the night (92-60).

In the first semifinal game of the night, King's College (Pa.) defeated Bridgewater State University, 75-69. Bridgewater and Penn will meet in the consolation game on Saturday at 1 p.m. The championship game between SU and King's College is scheduled for 3 p.m.