"They have to start winning the close games. They have to have a game where they are behind in the final minutes and claw their way back into it."

-- Temple's Mike Vreeswyk.

Had Vreeswyk been at Rec Hall last night, he would have been proud. Not only did the Nittany Lions claw back into their 80-78 win over St. Joe's, they scratched, fought and scrapped their way to their hardest fought victory of the season.

"Well, you know, Vreeswyk knows everything, he's a real basketball analyst," guard Brian Allen said with just a hint of sarcasm.

Vreeswyk is no Dick Vitale, but he did make a point: Can Penn State win a close come-from-behind basketball game?

Last night, the answer was yes.

Bruce Parkhill's Lions faced an 11-point deficit but fought and scrapped their way to their hardest fought victory of the season.

"Well, you know, Vreeswyk knows everything, he's a real basketball analyst," guard Brian Allen said with just a hint of sarcasm.

Vreeswyk is no Dick Vitale, but he did make a point: Can Penn State win a close come-from-behind basketball game?

Last night, the answer was yes.

Bruce Parkhill's Lions faced an 11-point deficit with 5:55 to play. But, in contrast to earlier losses this season to Temple, Southern Illinois and St. Bonaventure, they came back and won.

"(St. Joe's) deserved to win the game," Parkhill said. "I'm glad they didn't, but we've been in that situation a lot of times. I really feel for them."

At least three times this season, Parkhill felt a lot like Hawks Coach Jim Boyle did last night.

At the Cowboy Shootout on Dec. 29, SIU beat the Lions on a last-second bomb from half-court. Last night, when Allen missed from the so-called charity stripe with four seconds remaining, Henry Smith took the outlet pass, took a couple dribbles, and launched his own Hail Mary. The ball landed about five feet short of the hoop.

"When Smitty launched that desperation shot," Parkhill said, "I had Southern Illinois running through my mind."

Before Southern Illinois, on the day after Christmas, the Lions were truly in the spirit of giving when they handed Temple a 50-48 victory.

And just this past Tuesday, with a ten-point lead and less than 13 minutes remaining, Penn State lost its seventh contest of the season, 94-93, at St. Bonaventure. In that game, the Lions took a one-point lead with 36 seconds to go on Monroe Brown's three-point play. With time running out, the Bonnies' Rocky Llewellyn got the game-winning bucket when center Ed Fogell was called for goaltending.

But last night was a different story. The Lions trailed during the entire contest. They looked sluggish, but they persevered. To the dismay of St. Joe's Boyle, Penn State won its first game of the season in which it trailed at the half.

"I'm happy that we could contribute to such a joyous event," said Boyle.

No doubt Parkhill, Allen, Brown and the rest of the Nittany Lions are, too.

"I'm really happy that when things looked so bad so late in the game," Parkhill said, "that our kids had it within them to bounce back, to scrap, to play tough defense to get themselves the ball and convert."

With Temple in the midst of a four-day break, and last night's game broadcast live from Rec Hall, maybe, just maybe, Mike Vreeswyk was watching from Philadelphia.