Dec. 31, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., DEC. 31, 2007 - Penn State will take a perfect 8-0 home record into the New Year after downing Lehigh, 81-68, Monday afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center behind 29 points and 10 rebounds from Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.).
Penn State improved to 8-4 on the season and posted its best start at home since starting 8-0 in 1997-98. The win also marked the fifth straight for Penn State, the longest win streak in coach Ed DeChellis' five seasons and Penn State's longest since the 2002-03 season. The Nittany Lions now hit the road for games at Northwestern Wednesday and at Illinois Sunday to open the Big Ten season.
"We were 3-4 and now we're 8-4 since we've won five in a row," DeChellis said. "I think that we are a resilient team. It would've been really easy coming back after losing three in a row to lose to Virginia Tech and we won the game. It says a lot about our team. We talked about our goal. We came back, the best we can be is 8-4, let's be 8-4. These guys responded nicely and now we're 8-4 where we want to be. We didn't stub our toe at all, so I'm proud of them and I think they've done a good job at that."
Lehigh fell to 6-6 on the year as Penn State improved to 32-9 against non-conference opponents at home under DeChellis and 25-4 in the last three years.
Claxton now is tied for the Big Ten lead in double-doubles and 20-point games on the year notching his sixth double and eighth 20-point game of the season. The 29-point effort on 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc matched the second-best point total of his career and he added a career high tying three blocks.
Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) added 13 points and a strong defensive effort, while Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) had 12 points. Penn State shot a season best 50 percent from the floor while Lehigh shot 49 percent. Penn State won the rebounding battle 38-28 and equaled a season low with just eight turnovers.
"I thought (Geary) played very well the first half and took good shots," DeChellis said. "He made some baskets we needed him to make. "I thought our older guys were great tonight. I thought Danny did a nice job and Jamelle Cornley did a good job defensively. Sometimes the younger guys come back from the Christmas thing and they're here by themselves and they're thinking about all these other things other than getting the job done. I think the older guys know the value of what we're trying to do and did some very good things tonight."
Lehigh was led by sophomore Marquis Hall who hit 5-of-6 from three on his way to 19 points. Zahir Carrington added 15, nine in the second half, and Bryan White had 10 for the Mountain Hawks.
Both teams came out hot from the field and went to halftime tied at 40-40 after Lehigh shot 57 percent and Penn State a season-best 55 percent in the half. Claxton was dominating scoring a career-best 21 points and adding six boards and two blocks. He shot 8-of-10, including 3-for-3 from the arc in the half. Lehigh hit five of its first seven from three and 6-of-10 for the half, including two from Rob Keefer and two from Hall who both scored eight in the first 20 minutes.
Penn State hit its first four shots and Lehigh four of its first five to start the game. Penn State took a 9-8 lead into the first media timeout with 15:53 to play in the half getting five early points from Claxton, including a three from the left baseline.
Lehigh continued its hot shooting while Penn State cooled slightly and the Mountain Hawks took their first lead, 15-14, on a jumper by Keefer with 12:45 to play.
Penn State quickly claimed it back after a three-point play from Claxton gave the Lions a 17-15 lead and his 11th point of the game with 12:20 to play.
Back-to-back threes from Prentice Small, his a leaner as the shot clock expired, and Keefer gave the Hawks a 21-17 lead and forced a Penn State time out with 11:21 to play. Lehigh was 9-of-11 for 81 percent shooting to that point in the game.
Penn State retook the lead, 24-23, following a three-point play by David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) and two more baskets from Claxton, who hit six of his first seven from the floor.
Back-to-back threes from Hall and Matt Shamis gave the Hawks a five-point lead, 30-25. After a Jeff Brooks (Louisville, Ky.) free throw, Keefer's second three gave Lehigh its largest lead, 33-26, with 5:41 to play. Claxton's third three cut the Lehigh lead to 33-29.
The Nittany Lions used a late 9-0 run to reclaim a 38-35 lead with just over a minute to play. Claxton, Jackson and Cornley all had baskets and Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y) made a three in the run. Lehigh responded with a 5-0 run of its own in the final minute as Hall's late three tied the score.
Penn State turned up its defense in the second 20 minutes limiting Lehigh to 28 points and 42 percent shooting while scoring 41 of its own.
"We talked about it at half time and challenged them and in the second half we came out and played with a lot more energy and emotion," DeChellis said. "Danny Morrissey made a couple great defensive plays. He took the big charge ion on a three-on-one and got a steal down in the corner that got us going."
After an early Penn State lead, the Hawks again took a three-point advantage, 47-44, on a White jumper with 15:50 to play.
Penn State then used a three-point play from Cornley and a steal from Morrissey who then fed Cornley for a lay-up to spark a 9-0 run and claim a 53-47 lead.
Penn State eventually built the run into a 17-5 burst to open up a 61-52 lead with 10:34 to play. A Battle steal and assist to Morrissey on the break followed by a Morrissey three capped the spurt which finally gave the Nittany Lions some breathing room.
Lehigh got back within five on a Hall three with 9:34 to play, but another Morrissey three and a steal from Jackson who fed Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) for a lay-up quickly pushed the lead back to 10.
Penn State kept the lead over 10 for most of the final eight minutes and pushed it to as many as 13 on a rebound and coast-to-coast drive from Pringle with 6:44 to play.
After struggling from the free throw line most of the night, Penn State made 7-of-10 from the stripe in the final three minutes, including 4-of-6 from Claxton, to ice the game.
Penn State returns to action on Wednesday when they take on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., to begin its 16th season of Big Ten Conference action. The 8:00 p.m. (ET) tip will be televised live on ESPN2.