PHILADELPHIA -- The Lions 81-75 championship victory over George Washington Thursday night could not have been possible if it were not for two impressive wins last week in Philadelphia. The Lions rebounded from their worst loss in two years -- a 92-70 shalacking at Rutgers -- by crushing Duquesne in the quarterfinals and shocking Temple the next night in the semifinals.

"The kids did a great job down at the tournament in Philly," Coach Bruce Parkhill said after beating GW. "They played hard, determined with confidence and together. Which is what we have to do."

Here is how the tournament unfolded for the Lions:

Behind a career-high 24 points by DeRon Hayes, Penn State (18-10) smothered No. 6 seed Duquesne (13-15), 83-64, in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals last Sunday afternoon at the Palestra.

Hayes was named first-team All-Conference before the tournament and back it up with his play against the Dukes.

"It felt good to get it," Hayes said of the recognition. "I just wanted come out and prove that I deserved it."

Penn State played tough man-to-man defense from the outset and jumped out to a 10-2 lead just four minutes into the game. The Lions built the margin to 17 points before taking a 43-30 lead into the locker room.

Center Dave Degitz had 12 first-half points and 16 for the game.

"He had a great first half," Parkhill said. "He played as well as he's played all year in the first half. It is really nice to see considering he was sick all of January and he really lost some strength and confidence."

In the second half, Duquesne pulled within nine, 44-35, when guard Effrem Whitehead hit a 3-pointer with 18:34 left. But that was all the closer the Dukes could get. The Lions matched them shot for shot and pulled away down the stretch.

"Duquesne hung tough," Parkhill said. "They made a run. Our guys came up with some big baskets. I think we played one of our better games of the year."

A gutty second-half effort allowed Penn State (19-10) to overcome a 10-point deficit and upset No. 2 seed Temple (21-9), 52-50, last Monday night at the Palestra.

The win -- only the Lions' second in the last 17 tries against the Owls -- advanced them to the finals of the Atlantic 10 tournament for second time in the last three years.

"If there was one thing that won this game it was guts," Parkhill said. "We were struggling offensively as we usually do against Temple. We just told the guys to keep playing 'D' and hitting the boards and the shots will come."

The Lions trailed 47-42 with 4:17 left. Center C.J. Johnson was at the line shooting one-and-one after he was fouled by Temple point guard Vic Carstarphen.

Johnson bricked the free throw but Hayes flew through the lane and grabbed the rebound. Hayes gave the ball to point guard Freddie Barnes who tossed a skip pass to guard Monroe Brown standing outside the 3-point circle. Brown burried the trey to bring the Lions within two.

On the next trip, Temple star guard Mark Macon missed a short jumper and Freddie Barnes yanked down the rebound. Barnes was immediately fouled by center Donald Hodge. Barnes nailed both freee throws to pull the Lions even at 47-47.

After another Temple miss, Hodge fouled Johnson going for the rebound. The Owls 7-foot left the game with five personal fouls and just eight points. Temple coach John Chaney gave Johnson and the officials credit for taking Hodge out of the game.

"He did a good job of fronting him and putting a foot up his ass," he said. "If we'd gotten the kind of calls they got it probably would have made a difference. It probably would have made him back off."

Johnson calmly sank both free throws to give Penn State its first lead since early in the game.

Following back-to-back turnovers, Macon launched a 3-point shot that clanked off the rim. Two tip attempts missed and Temple forward Mik Kilgore grabbed another rebound and missed again. Lions' forward James Barnes grabbed the rebound but lost the ball out of bounds with :19 left.

Following a timeout, Kilgore couldn't find an open man to inbound the ball to. He signalled for a timeout so the Owls wouldn't turn the ball over on a five-second violation. The only problem was that Temple didn't have any timeouts left. The Owls were hit with a technical foul.

Macon said that Chaney repeatedly told the team during the previous timeout that they had no timeouts remaining.

"But at times you tend to lose sight at the end of the game," Macon said. "You make mistakes like that. No one is blaming Mik. It was a mistake he made and now you turn the page."

"I've lost ball games a lot of different ways," Chaney added. " But I don't think I've lost one with us getting a technical foul. I think we try to give our kids enough instruction before they go on the floor. But they're kids and when they go out on the floor they make mistakes."

Freddie Barnes -- who led the Lions with 15 points -- sank both free throws to push the lead to 51-47. On following inbounds play, the Lions were whistled for what seemed like a quick five-second violation giving the Owls another chance.

Macon capitalized by nailing a long 3-pointer from the right corner with Brown all over him to make it 51-50. The Lions inbounded the ball quickly and Freddie Barnes was fouled by forward James Spears with :05 left. Barnes hit the second of two free throws, leaving Temple a chance to tie the game or win it with a 3-pointer.

Macon took Temple to the semis by banking in a 3-pointer with two seconds left to beat West Virginia 56-53 the night before. Everyone knew he would get the call again including Brown who guarded him most of the night.

Macon got the ball 50 feet from the basket and dribbled up the left sideline past half court. Still 30 feet from the basket, Macon let go of a shot that landed harmlessly short.

"When he got the ball and started up the sideline, I knew I had to turn him," Brown said. "I just tried to get in front of him and make him change directions."

Brown said that the shot Macon hit the night before to beat WVU entered his mind.

"I was thinking about that," he said. "The shot he hit before that we were all over him and he hollard out good as soon as it left his hands. I couldn't believe it. I was really scared on the next one."

Macon led all scorers with 17 points on just 6-of-22 shooting. He admitted the Lions knew he was the only option on the last shot.

"Definitely they knew it," he said. "But there were two seconds on the clock. Why should I pass the ball? . . . I'd rather lose getting that shot off instead of having the time run out on a pass."