On a night when the men's basketball team needed a spark offensively, its defensive specialist stepped forward.

Early in the second half, guard Monroe Brown picked off a St. Bonaventure pass and pushed the ball up the floor to point gaurd Freddie Barnes. Barnes gave the ball back to Brown, who drove to the hole give the Lions their biggest lead to that point, 35-24.

Brown scored two more baskets -- a 3-pointer and another driving layup --for seven of his team's opening 14 points in the second half. The Lions 14-to-4 run turned a close game at halftime into a blowout.

"When we went into halftime, a lot of the guys said we were trying too hard," Brown said. "We were rushing down and forcing the issue. We weren't taking our time on the break. We knew we just had to work harder and the breaks would come."

Brown had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting (2-of-4 from 3-point land) and added five assists, while playing 35 minutes --the most of any Penn State player. He knows his offensive performance will be important down the stretch.

"I would like to elevate my game on offense because we've got to go on a run here heading into the tournament," Brown said.

Brown, who usually draws the opponent's best offensive player had three steals against the punchless Bonnies, who have been decimated by injuries all season. The defensive leader wasn't pleased with his team's defensive effort last night.

"Our defense was struggling for awhile," Brown said. "When you have to work real hard to stop somebody and there are breakdowns, that hurts. You want to stop their main scorers but you can't let the other guys get easy baskets."

Parkhill called this game a "must win" for the Lions. But for Brown an even bigger contest comes Saturday afternoon when the Lions face St. Joseph's in Rec Hall. A busload of fans will be making the trip from Harford County, Md. where Brown played high school basketball in Aberdeen.

"We're going to be pumped up because everybody in the league is pretty tough and they just beat Temple," Brown said. "I have a lot of people coming up to see me. I know I'm going to be pumped up. That's a key game."

Notes: Backup forward Jon Dietz did not dress last night after injuring his ankle in practice. He is doubtful for Saturday's game against St. Joseph's. Dietz's injury forced seldom-used sophomore Eric Carr into the lineup.

"Eric gives a good effort. He's a real good kid. He obviously didn't light it up but he tries out there and that's really all we could ask," Parkhill said.

Carr played 13 minutes, scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds

"I haven't played in awhile and I felt kind of rusty as far as offense," Carr said. "I just went to the boards really hard and played defense."

Parkhill started Carr ahead of starting forward and leading scorer DeRon Hayes in the second half.

"DeRon wasn't playing defense," Parkhill said. "Eric was giving a good effort. We need DeRon to play both ends of the floor."