Nov. 29, 2008
Philadelphia, PA., Nov. 29, 2008 - It was a test of the Nittany Lions focus playing in the consolation game of the Philly Hoop Group Classic against a potentially dangerous opponent. Penn State responded perfectly dominating Towson (3-3) from the opening tip at the Palestra before cruising to a 78-54 victory and a 6-1 mark on the season.
Penn State's lightning quick backcourt controlled the game from the outset as Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) led Penn State with 16 points and Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) nearly recorded a triple-double with 15 points, a career-high nine assists and eight boards. Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) chipped in 13 points and Philadelphia native Andrew Jones played his best game of the season with eight points, a career high 13 boards and three steals.
"I was very happy with the way we responded to coming in here today and playing this game and I thought we played very well," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "These are tough games to get up for when there aren't many people in the stands and it's a consolation game, but I thought the guys responded very well."
Tony Franklin was the only Towson player in double-figures with 12 points as Penn State held the Tigers to 29 percent shooting and 5-of-20 from three. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions passed and moved crisply shooting 29-of-60 (48%) and recording a season high 22 assists against just 10 turnovers.
Battle buried a pair of threes to open the game and Pringle followed with one of his own as the Lions found the range early and led 9-2 after five minutes. Battle assisted on four of the Lions five baskets as they took a 10-point lead, 18-8, after Danny Morrissey drained a three with 11:52 to play in the half.
Penn State extended the lead to 15 after a Battle jumper with 8:26 to play. Towson mounted a rally posting an 8-2 run over the next five minutes and getting to within nine, 28-19, following jumpers by Brian Morris and Troy Franklin. Battle responded with a four-point play as he was fouled while draining a 22-foot three and made the free throw.
Towson cut the margin to eight after a Franklin three with 2:34 to play in the half, but Penn State scored the last eight points of the half, the last three coming on a Cammeron Woodyard trey, to take a 40-24 lead to halftime.
Penn State quickly built the lead to 21 after the half getting a three-point play from Battle on a driving lay-up and a dunk from Cornley off a fast break to lead 45-24. Following a Towson bucket from Calvin Lee, Penn State went on a 9-1 run to lead by 27, 54-27, with 14:25 to play. The Nittany Lions outscored Towson 14-3 to start the second half and slammed the door on their sixth win of the season.
Penn State pushed the lead to as many as 33 in the half and began going deep into its bench with six minutes left in the game.
Penn State will return to State College for three days before taking off for Atlanta, Ga., on Tuesday night in preparation for an ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-up with Georgia Tech on Wednesday. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. from Alexander Memorial Coliseum and will be shown live on ESPN2.
Penn State won its ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-up last year with Virginia Tech in the Jordan Center and lost a very close game two years ago at Georgia Tech, 77-73. It will be Penn State's fourth-straight game away from the Jordan Center.