LORETTO — Paris Papadatos hit a 3-pointer as time expired to hand Saint Francis a dramatic 85-82 win against FDU in NEC men’s basketball action on Sunday at DeGol Arena.

Skylar Wicks paced the Red Flash with 24 points, while Chris Moncrief (14 points) and Ahmad Harrison (12 points) also found double figures in the victory.

“I love this group. I love those guys who are in that locker room,” Saint Francis coach Luke McConnell said. “They are going to fight and play for each other. I am so proud of the effort. They deserved it.”

Joey Niesman led the way for the Knights (4-11, 1-1) with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Taeshaud Jackson added 16 points and nine rebounds for Fairleigh Dickinson. Raysean Johnson also recorded 11 points.

“I told Ahmad that if he could, give me the ball if I was wide open, and he gave me the ball, and I made it, but that is 100 percent Ahmad,” Papadatos said. “It’s a special moment playing in front of my family again after a year and a half. There couldn’t be a better way to finish it.”

FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (4-11): Jackson 5-10 6-8 16, Martynov 2-5 4-4 8, Johnson 3-5 4-6 11, Niesman 7-17 8-9 23, Parnell 4-10 0-0 10, Jevtic 2-3 1-2 5, Melson 1-2 1-2 4, Cox 1-2 2-2 5, Godbolt 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Francis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 26-33 82.

SAINT FRANCIS (3-12): Liberis 2-3 2-2 6, Harrison 3-5 4-6 12, Moncrief 4-6 6-6 14, Payne 2-4 1-1 7, Wicks 8-19 4-7 24, Martino 1-5 4-4 6, Papadatos 3-7 2-2 9, B.Russell 1-3 2-2 5, Tweedy 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-54 25-30 85.

Halftime–Fairleigh Dickinson 46-44. 3-Point Goals–Fairleigh Dickinson 6-23 (Parnell 2-8, Cox 1-2, Melson 1-2, Johnson 1-3, Niesman 1-6, Jackson 0-1, Jevtic 0-1), St. Francis 10-26 (Wicks 4-11, Harrison 2-3, Payne 2-4, Papadatos 1-2, B. Russell 1-3, Moncrief 0-1, Martino 0-2). Fouled Out–Wicks. Rebounds–Fairleigh Dickinson 29 (Jackson 9), St. Francis 27 (Wicks 6). Assists–Fairleigh Dickinson 12 (Niesman 5), St. Francis 17 (Harrison 6). Total Fouls–Fairleigh Dickinson 22, St. Francis 24. A–381 (3,500).

Illinois tops Penn State at Philly’s Palestra

PHILADELPHIA — David Mirkovic had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kylan Boswell scored 18 points to lead No. 20 Illinois to a 73-65 win over Penn State on Saturday night at the Palestra.

Keaton Wagler scored 16 points and Zvonimir Ivisic added five blocked shots for the Illini (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) in the first of a 12-day stretch in which they play three of four conference opponents on the road.

Kayden Mingo scored 16 points for a Penn State, which is trying to end a two-year run of missing the NCAA Tournament. Penn State (9-5, 0-3) tried to pull off the win with the long ball, but missed 30 of 38 3-point attempts and had every small run derailed by wildly off-target shots.

ILLINOIS (11-3): Mirkovic 4-8 5-6 13, T.Ivisic 0-3 0-0 0, Boswell 5-13 6-6 18, Stojakovic 4-9 4-4 12, Wagler 4-9 7-8 16, Humrichous 2-4 0-0 5, Z.Ivisic 2-4 1-4 6, Davis 1-5 0-0 3, Petrovic 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 23-28 73.

PENN STATE (9-5): Juric 2-8 3-5 8, Reed 0-2 0-0 0, Dilione 4-11 0-0 9, Mingo 5-12 4-4 16, Rice 4-10 1-2 11, Stewart 1-6 0-0 3, Tunca 2-8 1-1 5, Ciani 3-6 0-2 6, Mirtic 1-3 0-0 2, Blackwood 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 24-69 9-14 65.

Halftime–Illinois 40-26. 3-Point Goals–Illinois 6-27 (Boswell 2-5, Humrichous 1-3, Z.Ivisic 1-3, Davis 1-5, Wagler 1-5, T.Ivisic 0-1, Stojakovic 0-2, Mirkovic 0-3), Penn State 8-38 (Rice 2-7, Mingo 2-8, Blackwood 1-2, Juric 1-5, Stewart 1-5, Dilione 1-7, Mirtic 0-1, Reed 0-1, Tunca 0-2). Fouled Out–Stewart. Rebounds–Illinois 41 (Mirkovic, Z.Ivisic 10), Penn State 29 (Dilione, Rice, Ciani 4). Assists–Illinois 9 (Mirkovic, Wagler 3), Penn State 11 (Mingo 5). Total Fouls–Illinois 17, Penn State 26. A–4,686 (8,722).

Clemson wins 14th win in a row over Pitt

PITTSBURGH — Jestin Porter scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half and Clemson beat Pittsburgh 73-68 for its fifth straight win this season and 14th consecutive victory over the Panthers.

The Tigers (12-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) lead the series 14-3 and haven’t lost to Pitt (7-8, 0-2) since 2014.

Porter was 8-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers for the Tigers.

Nick Davidson and RJ Godfrey scored 14 points each. Damarco Minor had 17 points with three 3-pointers for Pitt. Omari Witherspoon scored all 14 of his points in the second half and Roman Siulepa had 12.

CLEMSON (12-3): Godfrey 5-7 4-7 14, Wahlin 0-2 0-0 0, Welling 2-5 4-5 8, Hunter 1-6 2-3 4, Porter 8-12 2-2 21, Johnson 3-5 1-2 10, N.Davidson 5-7 3-4 14, Buckner 0-1 2-2 2, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-45 18-25 73.

PITTSBURGH (7-8): Corhen 4-8 1-2 10, Siulepa 4-8 3-6 12, Indrusaitis 0-4 0-0 0, Minor 5-10 4-5 17, Dunning 3-7 4-4 10, Witherspoon 6-10 1-1 14, Cummings 1-5 3-4 5, Mullen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 16-22 68.

Halftime–Pittsburgh 35-34. 3-Point Goals–Clemson 7-21 (Johnson 3-5, Porter 3-6, N.Davidson 1-3, Wahlin 0-1, Welling 0-2, Hunter 0-4), Pittsburgh 6-17 (Minor 3-6, Corhen 1-1, Siulepa 1-2, Witherspoon 1-3, Cummings 0-1, Indrusaitis 0-1, Dunning 0-3). Fouled Out–Welling, Corhen. Rebounds–Clemson 27 (Welling 10), Pittsburgh 26 (Siulepa 7). Assists–Clemson 11 (Hunter 4), Pittsburgh 9 (Indrusaitis, Witherspoon, Cummings 2). Total Fouls–Clemson 21, Pittsburgh 21. A–6,652 (12,508).

Lady Lions lose by a point

MADSION, Wisc. — Penn State women’s basketball dropped a tightly contested thriller at Wisconsin by way of a 74-73 final score.

Kiyomi McMiller’s 36 points were not enough to lift the Lady Lions to victory in the back-and-forth battle. After Wisconsin affirmed its lead in the first quarter, Penn State battled back to recapture the lead in the final stanza. The Badgers used a 14-0 run over the final six minutes to reclaim the advantage and finalize the victory.

PENN ST. (7-8): Merkle 5-7 2-2 12, Cleante 1-7 1-2 4, McMiller 14-22 5-5 36, Murray 3-6 0-0 8, Steele 0-1 1-2 1, Evans 3-5 1-3 7, Mendelson 0-1 0-0 0, McFadden 0-0 0-0 0, Ranisavljevic 1-4 2-2 5, Santana 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 27-56 12-16 73

WISCONSIN (11-4): Uchenna 5-9 0-1 10, Daniels 8-16 4-4 20, Howell 6-10 4-4 17, Porter 1-4 2-2 4, Ware 5-8 0-0 12, Bollin 2-5 0-0 4, Zaja 2-3 0-0 4, Krahn 0-2 1-2 1, Steele 0-5 2-2 2, Totals 29-62 13-15 74

Penn St. 16 22 25 10 –73

Wisconsin 20 20 15 19– 74

3-Point Goals–Penn St. 7-20 (Cleante 1-4, McMiller 3-4, Murray 2-5, Mendelson 0-1, Ranisavljevic 1-4, Santana 0-1, Smith 0-1), Wisconsin 3-17 (Daniels 0-3, Howell 1-3, Porter 0-1, Ware 2-3, Bollin 0-3, Krahn 0-2, Steele 0-2). Assists–Penn St. 11 (Cleante 3), Wisconsin 14 (Porter 5). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Penn St. 33 (Evans 12), Wisconsin 32 (Daniels 8). Total Fouls–Penn St. 16, Wisconsin 17. Technical Fouls–None. A–3,615.

SFU women trounced

LORETTO — Fairleigh Dickinson jumped out to a quick start, opening the game on an 8-0 run before the Saint Francis women’s basketball team got on the board midway through the first quarter Sunday at DeGol Arena.

After trimming the deficit to five late in the opening frame, the Knights used a 16-1 run spanning the end of the first and start of the second quarter to build an advantage, and FDU carried a 36-11 lead into halftime and never looked back in a 73-28 win. Bati Assefa led SFU with nine points.

FDU (73): McDonald 5-8 0-0 13, Osei-Owusu 5-8 1-2 11, Renninger 2-9 2-3 7, Crosby 3-6 1-2 7, Gerke 2-9 0-0 6, Downey 3-8 0-0 8, Lafleur 3-7 2-2 8, Baptiste 2-2 0-0 5, Toomey 1-1 2-2 5, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Edwards 0-1 2-2 2, Stokes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 27-61 10-13 73.

SAINT FRANCIS (28): Ricks 1-6 2-4 4, Ward 1-2 0-0 2, Sato 1-9 0-0 2, Hawthorne 0-4 0-0 0, Walker 0-3 0-0 0, Assefa 2-6 4-5 9, Minnis 2-7 2-2 6, Eke 1-5 3-4 5, Thornhill 0-5 0-0 0, Short 0-3 0-0 0. Totals — 8-50 11-15 28.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FDU 12 24 13 24 — 73

Saint Francis 8 3 12 5 — 28

3-point goals: FDU 9-25 (McDonald 3-5, Gerke 2-6, Downey 2-6, Renninger 1-5, Baptiste 1-1, Crosby 0-1, Lafleur 0-1); Saint Francis 1-21 (Assefa 1-2, Ricks 0-1, Eke 0-1, Short 0-2, Hawthorne 0-2, Sato 0-4, Thornhill 0-4, Minnis 0-5). Assists: FDU 17 (Renninger 6); Saint Francis 6 (Eke 3). Rebounds: FDU 47 (Lafleur 8); Saint Francis 26 (Eke 9).

Records: FDU (11-4, 2-0 in NEC); Saint Francis (0-13, 0-2 in NEC).

PSU Altoona men win

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Penn State Altoona men’s basketball team topped Regent at Gateway Christian Academy, 92-79 in a non-conference contest.

Kaden Claar, a Portage graduate, had a double-double, scoring 17 points, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.