Winning on the road has been a tough assignment for the men's basketball team this season - but for the Lions on Saturday night, circumstances made it even harder.
With reserve center C.J. Johnson sidelined with injury and starting guard Monroe Brown plagued with foul trouble, the Lions dropped their second straight, losing to Massachusetts, 73-64, at the Curry Hicks Cage.
Penn State fell to 15-9 and 8-7 in the Atlantic 10 while the Minutemen improved to 16-8 and 9-6. Massachusetts now has sole possession of third place in the A-10 while Penn State occupies the fifth spot with West Virginia and Duquesne.
Johnson, who averages seven points and 18 minutes per game off the bench, sprained his ankle in practice Friday. He paced the Lions with eight rebounds and added 13 points in the teams' last meeting.
Conditions worsened when Brown, the team's defensive specialist, picked up his second foul with 16:32 remaining in the first half. Brown's early exit opened the gates for UMass scoring threat Jim McCoy. The junior guard led all scoreres with 25 points, nailing 12-of-16 from the field.
"For the most part, I thought our effort was pretty good," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "It was a tough game for us without C.J. and with Monnie (Brown) in foul trouble."
Similar to Wednesday's loss to Temple, the Lions were sluggish in the early going. The Minutemen, sparked by a boisterous crowd on Senior Night, jumped to a 5-0 advantage.
DeRon Hayes, who registered six of his eight points in the opening half, nailed a 10-foot jumper from the right wing to knot the score at five. After the teams traded baskets for a stretch, the Lions snatched their first lead. Back-to-back 3-point jumpers from Freddie Barnes, who finished with a team-high 18, and Jon Dietz put Penn State ahead, 21-19.
The balanced UMass attack stemmed the rally and regained the lead. McCoy hit six points in the final six minutes and Tony Barbee sank a pair of free throws with six seconds left to put UMass ahead, 37-32, at the break.
"We knew we had to play a little harder without (Johnson and Brown) in the lineup." forward James Barnes, who ended with 11 points, said. "We came out and did some good things early to stay in the game, but we also did some things that kept us from keeping the lead in the first half."
Early in the second half, the centers did battle. Lion middle man Dave Degitz rebounded from a scoreless performance Wednesday to net 14 points. He hit eight of the Lions' first 12 of the half.
Degitz started his flurry with a breakaway slam dunk and a double-clutch layup over UMass center Harper Williams. He added a fade-away jumper and a pair of free throws to pull the Lions to within three at 47-44 with 13:21 remaining.
Williams answered, scoring six points in the same stretch before drawing his fourth foul. Williams finished with 11 points.
McCoy then took over, scoring eight straight and giving UMass its largest lead at 55-47 with 10:23 remaining.
"The turning point in the game was late in the second half when we got what looked to be some good scoring opportunities and we didn't convert," Parkhill said. "McCoy hit some tough shots that kind of put the game out of reach."
Forward Willie Herndon, who finished with 12 points, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:51 left in the contest. Freddie Barnes then hit a layup to bring the score to 65-61. Following two Herndon free throws, Barnes once again answered, this time with a three-point strike, making the score 67-64 with 28 seconds left.
The Lions were forced to foul Rafer Giles, an 88 percent foul shooter. The guard hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
The Lions will have to recover quickly as they face George Washington tonight at 7:30 in Rec Hall. The Colonials (15-9, 9-7) occupy fourth place in the A-10. GW recorded an 83-70 victory over the Lions on Feb. 3.
Tonight's game, the final home game this season, will also be Senior Night. Forward James Barnes, center C.J. Johnson, and guards Lem Joyner, Tony Soskich and Marty Joyce will be honored before the game.
