The war in the Middle East has occupied its minds as it has all Americans over the last two days. But the men's basketball team did not let the Iraq conflict affect its play as it rolled to a 83-65 win over Rhode Island last night at Rec Hall.

In avenging a loss to the Rams earlier in the season, the Lions stretched their home winning streak to 24 games. Penn State, now 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the Atlantic 10, will face Duquesne (4-9, 3-4) Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. Rhode Island dropped to 7-6 and 3-2.

"I really don't think (the war) is affecting how anybody's playing," backup forward Jon Dietz said. "When you come out to play you have to put everything out of your mind. We talk about it together, but it hasn't affected the way anybody's played. I think everybody's playing the same."

Dietz and backup guard Michael Jennings came off the bench in the first half to ignite a 10-0 Penn State run to put the game away. With the Lions up 16-14, Deitz tapped in a missed shot at the 10:27 mark.

Following Rhode Island guard Eric Leslie's miss, Lions' point-guard Freddie Barnes drove the lane for a layup to up the lead to six. Then Jennings took over. He scored the next six points on two fast-break layups and an incredible baseline move and reverse jam to make it 26-14 with 8:08 left.

"I went to the hole and nobody helped out," Jennings said. "I was going to dunk it with two hands, but I said no, I'll dunk it reverse."

Penn State carried a 44-29 lead into the lockeroom due mostly to the play of the reserves.

"I hope that will boost both their levels of confidence," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "They really did give us a lift and I thought that was a big point in the game."

Rhode Island coach Al Skinner, who was without third-leading scorer forward Mike Brown due to an injury, agreed.

"That's really a credit to them," he said. "When we played them in Kingston (R.I., a 75-65 Rams win) our bench came in and did a great job. The two games were very similar.

"We kind of played like they played at our place. We came out flat . . . and had to play catch up the whole game."

Dietz finished with a career high 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the field. He is a different player from the one who missed his first 14 shots of the season.

"This is probably the most confortable I've felt playing," Dietz said. "I didn't play last year, so it was really like being a freshman. I just needed to play a couple games and get some minutes under my belt and just relax."

With the lead in the first half, the Lions were able to use their matchup zone and shut down Rams' forward and leading scorer Eric Leslie. The 6'3" senior was averaging 21.1 points per game, but scored only 6 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the first half. Leslie finished with 22 but most of those came when the game was out of reach.

In the second half the Lions were able to pull away at the free-throw line. Forward DeRon Hayes made 9-of-9 free throws in the second half and finished as the Lions' top scorer with 21 points. Hayes' 11-of-11 from the charity stripe was a Penn State A-10 record.

The Rams were whistled for 19 fouls to the Lions' 12 and Penn State shot 18 free-throws to Rhode Island's 11. It was not the first time this season there has been a disparity in fouls at Rec Hall and Skinner questioned the officiating.

"I can't remember a game where Eric Leslie played that many minutes and did not go to the free-throw line," Skinner said. "He was playing very aggressively and taking the ball inside and when he doesn't go to the free-throw line it makes for conversation."

Forward James Barnes added 14 points, Monroe Brown 12 and Freddie Barnes 10 for the Lions. Center Jeff Kent added 11 in a losing effort for the Rams.

Duquesne Game Notes: Penn State will face two foes Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Duquesne's A.J. Polumbo Center. Not only do the Lions meet one of the best young teams in the A-10, but also an old nemisis . . . the road.

Penn State is 1-4 on the road this season. That makes the Lions overall road record in Parkhill's seven-plus seasons at University Park 25-64 (28 percent).

Penn State beat the Dukes 75-60 last Saturday at Rec Hall by hitting 39-of-53 free-throw attempts. In that game, Duquesne was whistled for 33 fouls to Penn State's 12. Guard Monroe Brown led the Lions with 19 points, while Dukes' forward Alan Watkins had 18 in a losing effort.

The Dukes shocked perennial Atlantic 10 champion Temple 60-59 in overtime Wednesday night.

"It will be tough," Parkhill said. "But on a positive note we just played them so their system will be relatively fresh in their minds."

Guard James Hargrove is the Dukes leading scorer with 15.1 points per game. Watkins averages 12.5 ppg and leads the team in rebounds with 5.9 a game. Guard Tony Petrarca is Duquesne three-point threat. He hit 6-of-12 attempts for a team-high 18 points against Temple.