UNCASVILLE, Conn. – It was a one-point game with under four minutes to play, but Providence pulled away in the final minutes to hand the Penn State men’s basketball team its first loss of the season, 77-65, Saturday afternoon at the Hall of Fame Showcase inside Mohegan Sun Arena.

Freddie Dilione V tallied a career-high 22 points to lead Penn State. Dilione V, a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, finished the game shooting 8-for-18 from the field and drilled four of his eight attempts from 3-point range to finish with his career-high scoring mark.

The redshirt junior booked his fifth game in double figures this season in addition to his fifth consecutive, surpassing his previous career high scoring mark of 21 points set against Oregon on January 12 of this year. He also managed to lead the Nittany Lions in rebounding with nine boards while pacing the Nittany Lions in assists with four and steals with two.

PSU’s bench continued to shine despite the final result, with the Nittany Lions mustering a 33-17 victory in the battle for scoring off the pine. The Nittany Lions also managed to out-shoot Providence from long range, shooting 33% from deep on the evening compared to an 18% clip for the Friars. Following Saturday’s clash against the Friars, Penn State dropped to 5-1 overall and will go on to face the Boston University Terriers this Tuesday inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

Providence improves to 4-2 overall and picked up its second win over the Nittany Lions in the fourth all-time meeting.

Back-to-back dunks for the Friars pushed the Providence lead up to 12 points at 53-41, but a quick 5-0 reply thanks to makes from Ivan Juric and Reed brought the Nittany Lions back within single digits. Providence recorded another dunk its next trip down, but a long-range make from Tunca made it a 55-49 affair.

Reed added a triple of his own to pull the Nittany Lions back within three points of the lead, but five quick points from the Friars maintained the edge.

Dilione V continued his hot shooting night from the field with a paint bucket that made it 60-54, and Mirtič added a layup down low following a defensive stop on the other end. Providence went 2-for-2 at the stripe moments later and added a mid-range jumper, but Dilione V drilled yet another triple to make it a five-point ballgame.

A fantastic feed in transition found Kayden Mingo moments later, and despite missing the layup, Juric was there to tip in the bucket to make it 64-61 Providence at the final media timeout of the game.

Following Penn State’s called timeout, Dilione V hit another jumper to make it a one-point game with less than four minutes to play. From that point forward, Providence went on a 13-2 scoring run to close out the 77-65 win.

Providence 77, Penn State 65

PROVIDENCE (4-2)

Stefan Vaaks 5-13 2-2 15, Jason Edwards 3-13 7-11 14, Jaylin Sellers 6-16 0-0 13, Oswin Erhunmwunse 5-7 1-1 11, Ryan Mela 2-9 3-3 7, Corey Floyd Jr. 3-5 2-2 9, Jamier Jones 4-6 0-0 8, Cole Hargrove 0-0 0-0 0; jaylen ahrrell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 15-19 77.

PENN STATE (5-1)

Melih Tunca 4-11 2-3 11, Josh Reed 3-7 1-1 8, Iva Juric 2-6 2-2 6, Eli Rice 1-4 2-2 5, Kayden Mingo 1-8 0-0 2, Freddie Dilione V 8-18 2-2 22, Tibor Mitric 2-3 1-2 6, Dominick Stewart 1-5 1-2 3, Sasa Ciani 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 22-66 13-16 65.

Halftime: Providence, 32-31. 3-point goals: Providence 6-33 (Vaaks 3-11, Edwards 1-8, Sellers 1-9, Floyd Jr. 1-1, Jones 0-1, Mela 0-3), PSU 8-24 (DIlione 4-8, Tunca 1-4, Reed 1-3, Rice 1-3, Mirtic 1-1, Stewart 0-1, Juric 0-2, Mingo 0-2). Fouled out: Providence-none; PSU-none. Rebounds: Providence 45 (Mela 9), PSU 43 (DIlione 9). Assists: Providence 15 (Vaaks 5, Mela 5), PSU 12 (Dilione 4). Technical fouls: Providence-none; PSU-none. Total fouls: Providence 13, PSU 16.