The demons ... exorcised.

The drought ... over.

The monkey ... finally off Penn State's back.

After defeating St. Francis (Pa.) 67-58 on Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center, Penn State (2-1) won a hard-fought game at Buffalo on Saturday, 67-64, the Nittany Lions' first road victory since March 1, 2001.

After a back-and-forth first half, Penn State opened the second half with nine unanswered points, but allowed the Bulls to take a 56-55 lead following an 18-4 run.

But time ran out on Buffalo's Yassin Idbihi-led charge, and Penn State notched its first away win since a 78-73 win against Iowa, when Jerry Dunn was in the midst of a Sweet 16 run and forward Jan Jagla was still in Germany.

"I haven't had a road win in my career here ... it has been two years," Jagla said.

Contrary to the season's first two games, the Lions were not guided by Jagla, who was hindered by foul trouble and only played nine minutes against Buffalo. Ben Luber and DeForrest Riley-Smith picked up the slack, scoring 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Idbihi, a freshman, led Buffalo with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while Daniel Gilbert contributed 13 points for the Bulls, who slipped to 0-3 with the loss.

Penn State's victory over St. Francis had a much different tone than its most recent game. The Lions looked sluggish in the first half on Wednesday, falling behind 11-0. With strong performances from Jagla and Riley-Smith, Penn State was able to tie the game by halftime and capture the lead soon after, entering the win column for the first time during the young 2003-2004 campaign.

Jagla tallied 23 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, all of which paced the Lions. Riley-Smith scored 14 points and dished out seven assists, and Ndu Egekeze again had a strong showing from the bench, collecting seven rebounds and 11 points. Marlon Smith added 10 points, but struggled to find his shooting touch with a 3-12 performance from the field.

St. Francis coach Bobby Jones applauded Penn State's second half tenacity.

"They are undermanned in terms of talent ... after we made that 11-0 run, they came out and settled down and maintained their poise and didn't quit," Jones said.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said the Lions lacked energy against St. Francis and need to improve on shot selection before competing in their next game, at home on Wednesday against Cleveland State.

"We're all taking crazy shots early, we're all big home run hitters," DeChellis said. "Let's hit some singles and not have everyone swinging for the fence right now."