In basketball games and horse racing, seconds and photos often make the difference in the winner.

The Lions (23-8) went wire to wire with Maryland (19-14) last night at Rec Hall in a hotly contested finish. When the final plays were analyzed, the Terps' 80-78 loss stood.

With 32 seconds remaining in the game, Maryland star Jerrod Mustaf nailed a 2-point shot very close to the 3-point shot line. The scorer, thinking it was worth three points, showed a 78-78 tie on the center scoreboard when the score should have read 78-77, Penn State. The incorrect score remained on the board for at least 16 seconds, wreaking havoc on the Maryland game plan.

"The one referee raised his hand in a 3-point call, but it never got up there, so it was a two," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Our players thought it was a three. That was the problem, so we didn't foul. We tried to get 'em from the bench, but we couldn't get their attention. So they ran it down to five seconds."

Mustaf's shot was close, but upon further review, the officials determined that his foot was indeed brushing the 3-point line, crushing any objections.

"That ref got (his arms) about halfway up," Williams said. "But he took 'em down because he looked at his buddies. I don't know which referee it was."

After the mix-up, Maryland got the ball back when Freddie Barnes sank two free throws for the Lions to make the score 80-77. The Terps' plan was to throw the ball to midcourt and call a timeout.

It went somewhat awry when the ball ended up beneath the basket after the timeout, and Monroe Brown sent Teyon McCoy to the free throw line instead of the 3-point line.

McCoy was to hit one shot and back-rim the second so the Terps could get a shot at the rebound and go for at least a tie to send the game into overtime. The ball bounced around until it went out of bounds with Maryland retaining possession. One second remained. Tony Massenburg's buzzer shot came too late and too wide.

The first 39 minutes were almost as colorful as the last one. Barnes opened the scoring with a 3-point shot with 19:46 remaining in the half. The Lions jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Maryland called a timeout.

The Terps chipped away at the lead until the score was tied at 17 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half. The score stayed that close for most of the game.

"In the first half they forced us into taking some tough shots, which is their bag," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "They are very good at doing that. I was a little concerned about that, but we were getting enough points out of the other ones that kept us with it."

Near the end of the first half, Williams vehemently objected to a foul call against McCoy. His protests were rewarded with a technical foul. Ed Fogell converted both free throws.

"Is (getting animated) okay?," Williams asked. "Are you allowed to do that in State College? Would Joe Paterno say you couldn't do that, or what?"

His team responded to his theatrics and went into halftime with a 35-35 tie.

In the first 19 minutes of the second half, the Lions went to the perimeter to keep pumping in the points. Usually, their inside game and hustle put the numbers in the win column.

"It's ironic, us hitting jump shots to win it," Parkhill said.

Many of the Lions' big men were in foul trouble, but the team managed to keep Maryland at arm's length for the rest of the game, though the Terps seemed to be playing street basketball most of the time. They were usually nestled tightly in their opponents' jerseys.

"It was a competitive, physical game," Dave Degitz said. "Both teams really wanted to win. It wasn't really anger or spiting going on out there."