Two Bruce Blake foul shots with 11 minutes remaining gave the Lions a lead they wouldn't relinquish Saturday night, as they went on to defeat George Washington University, 89-73, at Smith Center in the nation's capital.

The Lions return home tonight when they take on Lehigh at 8:10 in the second half of a doubleheader at Rec Hall.

Blake's free throws capped a run which saw the Lions rally from as much as nine points down early in the second half.

After taking a 43-39 advantage into intermission, the Colonials extended their lead to 54-45 at the 16:11 mark when Glen Sitney banked in a 12-footer from the right side.

"We just really struggled," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "George Washington was doing a real good job. I was surprised we didn't play better in the first half."

However, the Lions, fresh off Thursday's overtime loss at Rutgers, didn't panic.

"We never lost confidence," freshman Monroe Brown said. "We knew it was a game we had to have. It was just one of those things where they got on a little spurt."

Penn State responded with a spurt of its own. A 17-2 burst in a six-minute span propelled the Lions (12-8, 8-4) to their second win this season over the hapless Colonials (1-18, 1-9).

Blake ignited the run with a 15-foot jumper, while Brown, who led the Lions with 20 points, scored six of them on a pair of layups and an offensive board during the stretch.

This week's Atlantic 10 co-freshman of the week, Brown tied the game at 56-56 on a transition basket with 11:41 to play.

"Monnie is a good player," Parkhill said. "He's just getting better and better."

From there it only got worse for the hosts who, despite hitting seven-of-11 3-pointers in the first half, were far off the mark in the second, going 0-for-15.

"We weren't honoring them like we should have (in the first half)," Brown said of the GWU guards. "We didn't push out and make them catch it out of shooting range."

Parkhill credited a tougher man-to-man defense in the second half when, the coach said, "We aborted the zones."

Besides Brown, Blake's 18 points, Tom Hovasse's 13 and Brian Allen's 11 led the Lions. Hovasse added nine rebounds.

Several players came off the bench to spark Penn State. Perhaps C.J. Johnson contributed most significantly, scoring his first basket of the season by slamming home a Brown miss and giving the Lions a nine-point lead (71-62).

"C.J. Johnson was a big lift off the bench," Brown said. "I think that was the key."

Penn State's reserve corps outscored GWU's, 25-8.

"I think in the second half, when we got into foul trouble - particularly (Ed) Fogell and (James) Barnes -- Brian Allen, Johnson and Dave Degitz were the guys who came off the bench and gave us a lift," Parkhill said.

Tonight the Lions host Lehigh in their only break from conference opponents for the rest of the season.

"Its a very important game for our record, to beat a non-conference opponent," Parkhill said. "It's a big game. We would like to have another win before (playing A-10 leader) West Virginia."