Feb 25, 2016 3 min read

STATE COLLEGE – Shep Garner scored 22 points, made five 3-pointers and hit a go-ahead free throw in the final seconds and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 56-55 on Thursday.

Brandon Taylor added 19 points and added five 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions (6-9 Big Ten, 15-13) who won their third-straight game and tied for their most conference wins under coach Patrick Chambers.

Shavon Shields scored 25 points for the Cornhuskers (6-10, 14-15) who lost their third straight and seventh in their last nine.

Penn State led by 18 with 14:16 to play but the Cornhuskers cut that lead to six twice and to two with 2:46 left.

After Taylor missed an alley-oop try with 1:06 left, Tai Webster brought Nebraska within two when he drew a foul on his way to the basket and sank one of two free throws. Penn State missed its next three shots and Michael Jacobson was fouled under the basket and made two from the foul line to tie the game 55-55 with 50 seconds left.

Garner put Penn State ahead for good when he drew a foul on a late drive and made one of two free throws. Shields missed a jumper at the buzzer to seal Penn State’s win.

Garner, Taylor and the rest of the Nittany Lions were as cold in the final minutes as they were hot earlier in the game.

Taylor powered Penn State’s offense with three 3-pointers early and Garner helped the Nittany Lions take a 28-20 first-half lead with seven unanswered points to close out the first half.

Meanwhile, Nebraska had few answers outside of Shields – who scored 14 of his points in the first half – for Penn State’s tight defense. The Cornhuskers turned the ball over six times, went nearly seven minutes without a basket midway through the first and closed out the first 20 minutes on a 4-for-13 skid.

Robert Morris 73, Sacred Heart 63: Rodney Pryor scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Robert Morris defeated Sacred Heart 73-63 Thursday night.

Pryor was 8-of-15 shooting and 8 of 9 from the line. Billy Giles was 6 of 8 for 16 points and also had nine rebounds for the Colonials (8-9 Northeast, 10-20), who avenged a 69-65 loss to the Pioneers (10-7, 11-17) Jan. 2. Isaiah Still added 13 points and Kavon Stewart had 11.

Cane Broome scored 21 points, Matej Buovac 16 and Eyimofe Edukugho 11 for the Pioneers, who had a three-game win streak snapped.

The Pioneers led by one at halftime but trailed by 11, 66-55, with three minutes left in the game after a basket by Still and couldn’t get closer than seven after that.

Sacred Heart is in a four-way, second-place tie, two games back of champion Wagner, with one regular-season game remaining.