Nov. 12, 2007
Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery | AP Gallery
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; November 12, 2007 - The Penn State men's basketball team used an 11-0 run to start the second half and 23 points and 10 rebounds from Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.) to overcome a tough shooting night and knock off St. Francis, 74-64, in the Nittany Lions' season-opener at the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday. It marked the third straight season opening win for Penn State, which improved to 82-30 all-time in season openers.
Penn State shot just 34 percent in the first half and 39 percent for the game, but used its defense to create offense. Junior transfer Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) equaled a Jordan Center record with seven steals, one off the Penn State record, in his Nittany Lion debut as he helped fuel the transition game. Penn State played nine men more than 12 minutes and seven more than 20 in the game in which standout junior Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) did not play as he continued to recover from a bone bruise in his left knee.
"I thought we played nervous the whole game," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "We were playing not to make a mistake. I just gave the old, `It sounds like we're trying to put ten pounds of potatoes in a five pound sack' (at halftime). (I said) just go out and shoot it, play, defend, and have some fun. I thought we did that in spurts in the second half a little bit better than in the first half. In the first half, we were so tight."
Penn State took momentum and a 33-29 lead into halftime after freshman Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and Pringle knocked down their first career three-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the half. Out of the half, a D.J. Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) lay-in, followed by a Claxton basket and a deep Mike Walker (Lewisberry, Pa.) three-pointer spurred the Nittany Lions on an 11-0 run to begin the second 20 minutes and build a 15-point lead, 44-29.
Pringle secured one of his seven steals on the night at the top of the key to lead a Penn State breakaway that resulted in a thunderous Claxton one-handed dunk off a Pringle feed, which gave Penn State a 13-point edge. A Jackson turnaround jumper from 10 feet gave the Nittany Lions the 15-point edge before the media timeout with 15:50 to play in the ballgame. From there, the Lions and Red Flash exchanged spurts, with the Red Flash getting as close as five, 51-46, with 9:57 to play before Penn State secured the 10-point victory.
Claxton was 9-of-18 shooting to lead the Nittany Lions and record his 18th career double-double and 16th career 20-point game.
"He had a solid night tonight and I think the sky is the limit for him," DeChellis said of Claxton. "He scored and rebounded the basketball, but I think he would tell you he could play a lot better and we need him to continue to play well and to get him quality minutes of scoring and rebounding to make other guys better."
Battle recorded 12 points and four assists in his Nittany Lion debut. Jackson chipped in with 10 points. Brandon Hassell (Farmersville, Ohio) paced the Lions on the glass with a career-best 11 boards. The Nittany Lions shot 24-of-61 from the floor and 8-of-24 from three and out-rebounded the Red Flash 40-35.
Grant Suprenant paced St. Francis with 20 points, knocking down 6-of-9 from three-point range. Cale Nelson and Devin Sweetney each scored 12 points. The Red Flash shot 37 percent from the field for the game and committed 19 turnovers as they fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Penn State took a 33-29 lead into the locker room after both teams failed to shoot better than 35 percent from the floor in the half. St. Francis was 10 for 30 (33.3 percent) in the initial half, while the Lions went 11-of-32. Both teams also struggled from the three-point line, as the Red Flash shot 38.5 percent. The Nittany Lions started just 2-of-12 before the Battle and Pringle threes to end the first half. Penn State made up for the field goal shooting by hitting 18-of-22 (82%) from the foul line.
Claxton led the Nittany Lions with nine points and five rebounds in the first half. Pringle and Battle both provided a spark off the bench. Pringle recorded five points and five steals in the half while Battle posted seven points in 12 minutes of first half action.
Both teams got off to a sloppy start, exchanging fouls and turnovers at both ends of the floor. Each team started 3-of-11 from the field. Claxton got the Lions on the board with 18:05 on the clock after getting a rebound on his own missed dunk attempt. The Nittany Lions then went nearly three minutes without a field goal before Claxton went coast-to-coast for a lay-in to cut an early St. Francis lead to 5-4 with 14:58 to play in the first half.
After exchanging baskets, Saint Francis held a 9-6 lead. Pringle stepped right off the bench and netted a mid-range jumper to kick-start a Nittany Lion rally. Jackson skied for a block on the defensive end before sinking a pair of foul shots to cut the St. Francis lead to 11-10 with the clock reading 11:50. Despite the Penn State run the Red Flash came right back. Claxton gave the Nittany Lions the lead at 15-13 with 10:12 to play, their first lead since being up 2-0. However, Sweetney came right back at the other end of the floor for Saint Francis with a three of his own to put the Red Flash back up, 16-15.
Following an exchange of two-point baskets, the two teams hit a scoring drought of nearly two minutes. From there, the two teams continued their shooting woes before Battle and Pringle connected on the back-to-back threes with 30 seconds left in the half to give the Nittany Lions a spark into the half.
Using the momentum off the back-to-back threes to end the first half, the Nittany Lions came out of the locker room smoking. Nonetheless, St. Francis came right back. A pair of back-to-back Suprenant threes triggered an 8-0 run for the Red Flash, which cut the Lion lead to 44-37 with 14:05 to play.
Fueled by a half-court trapping defense, the Nittany Lions kept the Red Flash off balance midway through the second half. A Jackson steal caused by pressure from the trap led to a Lion possession that resulted in Battle getting fouled while attempting a three-pointer. Battle sank two of the three foul shots, snapping the 8-0 run, and extending the lead to 46-37.
Suprenant drilled his third three of the half deep in the corner to bring St. Francis to within six. After exchanging four baskets, Claxton took control for the Nittany Lions. The senior guard scored seven straight points, capped by a two-handed breakaway dunk set up by a steal of his own and a Battle feed. The play gave Penn State a 58-46 lead with 8:01 remaining in the game.
St. Francis responded to the Nittany Lion run. A Suprenant three and a Nelson old-fashioned three-point play brought the Red Flash to within nine with the clock reading 4:11. Despite the brief spurt, a pair of three-pointers from Claxton and Morrissey, along with Jackson free throws down the stretch sealed the game for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State will host Canisius Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the Jordan Center. The game will be broadcast by ESPN 360.
-NITTANY LIONS-