for a third straight week. Ty Sambrailo was repeatedly burned

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Pat Chambers watched nearly all of the film available on Wright State heading into Saturday.Penn States coach was worried about the Raiders, specifically their ability to shoot 3-pointers with pinpoint accuracy and fill hoops at a clip of nearly 83 points per game. That average took a big hit after Penn State tilted the court decidedly with stingy defense in the Nittany Lions 72-50 win on Saturday.I probably watched six out of their nine games, Chambers said. They can really fill it up. A team like that really scares me, and man, these guys really stepped up.Shep Garner scored 17 points, Payton Banks added 15 and the Nittany Lions (6-3) held the Raiders (6-3) to just 16-of-66 shooting. Mark Alstork led Wright State with 15 points while Justin Mitchell and Steven Davis added nine each. Mitchell led the Raiders with 11 rebounds.Wright State shooters made just 6 of 23 3-pointers but heated up with three in the final seven minutes. By then it was too late as the Nittany Lions led by 27 when Mike La Tulip hit the Raiders final 3-pointer with 3:51 left.Im pretty sure thats the worst offensive output that Ive ever seen in 22 years, Wright State coach Scott Nagy said.Josh Reaves and Lamar Stevens added 12 points apiece for the Nittany Lions (6-3) who won their fourth straight. Tony Carr grabbed 12 rebounds.The Nittany Lions led for all but 56 seconds and pulled away after leading 29-26 at halftime. Penn State opened the second half with a 13-2 run and steadily increased it as the game wore on. The Raiders werent able to cut Penn States lead by any more than 13 points and did so when Grant Benzinger tipped in a rebound to make it 45-32 with 14:42 left.I thought our team did a really nice job coming out in the second half and basically saying, were better than what we showed in the first half, Chambers said.BIG MIKE, BIG DIFFERENCE MAKERPenn State forward Mike Watkins was dominant before foul trouble forced him to spend most of the first half on the bench.The 6-foot-9 forward grabbed five rebounds, blocked four shots and added a steal in the first seven minutes he played. He finished with eight blocks, nine rebounds, a steal and added eight points. He was 6-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line.Id like to say a lot of times, we have really good defensive possessions and I like to think of myself as a really good on-ball defender, Reaves said. But just having Mike behind you, its just so comforting. Its God-given. Its just a blessing to have him behind us playing defense.When Watkins returned in the second half, he continued to foil the Raiders who had little success driving the basket and underneath. They finished with just 16 points in the paint.STEVENS BOUNCE BACKStevens first half ended poorly. He missed his last five shots, all short or mid-range jumpers and Wright State chipped away at Penn States lead in the meantime. Stevens entered the locker room frustrated.He sparked Penn States run in the second half with six of the teams first 13 points including two nice drives, one ending with a vicious slam dunk between defenders.I think that ignited us for sure, Chambers said. Lamar was pretty upset about how he finished the half and I talked to him very kindly at halftime and then he said to me, `I got you. And thats when I knew Lamar was about to turn it up and really play well. But we need that consistency for the minutes that hes on the floor.THE BIG PICTUREWright State: Picked in the preseason to finish in the middle of the Horizon League pack, the Raiders entered the game a game behind Valparaiso and Oakland for the conferences top spot. Theyll play five of their next six games on the road including the Horizon League opener against Oakland on Dec. 29.Penn State: The Nittany Lions have four players averaging in double figures and two are freshmen. The balanced scoring has been buoyed by Chambers commitment to spread minutes around to keep his players fresh. Eight of 10 Nittany Lions played at least 15 minutes on Saturday and the strategy appears to be paying off with four games left before Penn State begins Big Ten play.UP NEXTWright State plays at Loyola of Chicago on Wednesday.Penn State hosts George Mason on Wednesday. Rangers Jerseys China . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Texas Rangers Shirts . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/ . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Texas Rangers Pro Shop .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Texas Rangers Gear . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. DENVER -- Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons didnt need another 300-yard performance from Julio Jones to decipher Denvers dazzling defense and wreck Paxton Lynchs first NFL start with a 23-16 win over Broncos on Sunday.Using a steady dose of I-formation runs and short passes that put Denvers linebackers in coverage, the Falcons (4-1) handed the Super Bowl champs their first loss since Dec. 20 at Pittsburgh and left the Minnesota Vikings (5-0) as the NFLs last unbeaten team.The Broncos (4-1) were on their heels having to respect the play-action because Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were so effective running the ball, combining for 119 yards and a 4.4-yard average.A week after setting a franchise record with 503 yards passing in a runaway win over Super Bowl 50s other participant, the Carolina Panthers, Ryan threw for 267 yards Sunday and only two of those (covering 29 yards) went to Jones.Last week, Jones became just the sixth 300-yard receiver in NFL annals, not that Denvers No Fly Zone defense was impressed. They dismissed that performance as a bad day by the Panthers, and they stifled Jones all afternoon.Not that it mattered.Coleman, who played despite having sickle cell trait, which can sometimes be exacerbated at altitude, showed off his breakaway speed by catching four passes for 132 yards to go with his 31 yards on six carries.Ryans rather modest total included a 31-yard touchdown toss to Coleman following Ricardo Allens interception at the Denver 42 in the third quarter that made it 20-3.That sequence sent some flustered fans streaming for the exits as the Falcons finished off the Broncos, who hadnt lost at home since Dec. 13 against Oakland.The Broncos dont have much time to digest the loss. They play at San Diego on Thursday night, and their hope is that Trevor Siemians bruised left shoulder is healed by then.Lynch, the 26th overall pick out of Memphis last April, got the starting nod because Siemians bruised A.C. joint in his non-throwing shoulder was still bothering him a week after he was flung to the turf in Tampa.dddddddddddd.It was Lynch who showed he wasnt ready Sunday, however.He completed 23 of 35 passes for 223 yards with a late TD to Demaryius Thomas and an interception. He was sacked a half-dozen times, including 3 1/2 times by outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who burned right tackle Ty Sambrailo on three of those takedowns.Lynchs footwork was a mess and his overthrows and misfires ruined any chance the Broncos had of capitalizing on the leagues 30th ranked defense, including the NFLs next-to-last pass defense and a patchwork linebacker corps .Unlike Siemian, Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, all of whom did enough to allow Denvers stout defense to secure the win during an NFL-best nine-game winning streak, Lynch couldnt avoid mistakes that doomed his team to defeat. He constantly held onto the ball too long and too often didnt make decisions or moves fast enough.PROTECTION PROBLEMS: It didnt help Denver that right tackle Donald Stephenson (calf) was deactivated for a third straight week. Ty Sambrailo was repeatedly burned by Beasley before the Broncos moved right guard Michael Schofield over and inserted Darrion Weems.GROUNDED GROUND GAME: The Broncos ground game has ground to a near standstill ever since Stephenson and tight end Virgil Green pulled calf muscles in Week 2. After averaging 141 yards and 4.7 yards a carry in their first two games, the Broncos nosedived to 70 yards and 2.5 yards a carry in next two games. Green and Stephenson were surprise holdouts Sunday and the Broncos gained just 84 yards on two dozen handoffs.MILLER TIME: Even in defeat, Von Miller got to the quarterback. He recorded a sack and now has 6 1/2 on the season.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '