PHILADELPHIA -- In what could have been his final collegiate game, senior Tom Hovasse scored 25 points to lead Penn State to an 84-68 victory over Rhode Island yesterday in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at the Palestra.

The team will face top-seed West Virginia at 7 tonight in the semifinals in Philadelphia.

The Lions began the game with a 10-0 lead and built the advantage to 17-4 with barely four minutes gone. Two Hovasse free throws at 9:22 gave the Lions a 14-point lead, their biggest of the half.

But the Rams, last year's A-10 runners-up, stormed back into the game. As Penn State shooters struggled, Eric Leslie (23 points) and Kenny Green (17 points) caught fire for URI.

With 1:29 remaining in the half, Green hit a turn-around jumper to give the Rams their first lead, 35-34. Following two more Hovasse free throws, Leslie nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give Rhode Island a 38-36 lead at intermission.

"At halftime, we had to keep everyone going and play intense," Hovasse said. "We were down but there was no way this would be our last game. We got fired up, and we wanted to keep playing (in the tournament.)"

They kept playing, all right.

The Lions came out of the locker room with more intensity than in the first half. Hitting 14 of their first 19 shots, Penn State built a 56-51 lead with less than nine minutes to play. The defense was sharper and the rebounding returned.

"In the second half, we wanted to get back our defensive aggressiveness which we lost in the first half," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "Also, we had stopped getting the ball inside on offense and we wanted to re-establish that."

The major inside force was center Ed Fogel, who hails from suburban Philadelphia. Fogell pumped in 17 points on six for nine shooting, including a rim-bending dunk that put the Lions ahead for good just 1:01 in the second half.

He and Hovasse combined for 21 points in each half and added 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. Both were largely ineffective toward the end of the first half, but they came out smoking in the final 20 minutes.

"At half time, Coach Parkhill looked right at both of us," Fogell said with a smile. "I can't tell you what he said."

Hovasse must have impressed the NBA scouts in attendance as he methodically hit field goals and snagged rebounds. He also added a season-high four blocked shots. To the Colorado native the A-10 tournament is the launching pad for a possible appearance in post-season play.

"Everyone has to be fired up," Hovasse said. "This is the A-10 tournament and that could mean a possible NCAA berth. It's in the back of our minds, but all we can do is look forward to the next game."

Look forward to the nationally-ranked Mountaineers?

After all, WVU swept the seasonseries from the Lions, has lost to Penn State only once since 1983 and held the Lions to 33 percent shooting in their last meeting (March 1).

"I think the team that has lost to another two straight times during the regular season has a small psychological advantage, but not much," Parkhill said. "If the teams have competitors on them, the regular season does not mean that much. I'm sure that West Virginia is not thinking about the fact that they've beaten us twice already.

"I do like the fact that we have played them as recently as six days ago because we know what we have to do. But none of that will matter if we don't make our shots."

"It's fresh in my mind what they do," Hovasse said. "And we know what we have to do."