"Da Bears" won't want to come to Rec Hall anymore. Saturday night Penn State trounced the Morgan State Bears 102-51. Last night the the Brown Bears (5-6) suffered the same consequences as the Lions (10-4) cruised to a 81-59 win.

The story became simple in the second half -- the Lions shot the lights out while the Bears shot themselves in the foot. Of course, Penn State's defense had a hand in the Bears' 35.5 percent shooting in the second half. The defense also forced 21 turnovers.

"I really was happy with our defense," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "We wanted to identify and take away the 3-point shot because that's pretty much their staple."

It was fitting that the Lions' defensive specialist also reached a milestone last night. Monroe Brown scored the 1,000th point of his career and received the usual standing ovation from the 5,814 fans. Brown led the game with 17 points, and became the 17th player in team history to reach that mark. Forward DeRon Hayes, who scored 13 points, is just four away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau.

"I would have liked to have done that (on Saturday night) when my parents were here," Brown said. "It really wasn't that important. I can do a lot of other things as far as rebounds and assists."

Brown and Freddie Barnes suffocated the Bears' top guards, Rick Lloyd and Chuck Savage, in the second half. Lloyd and Savage, who came into the game averaging 15.4 and 14.3 points per game, scored a combined total of 14 points. Brown and Barnes combined for 31 points.

It was nip-and-tuck for most of the first half. But each time the Bears chipped away at Penn State's lead, the Lions would build it back up again. The Bears cut the lead to 29-24 with 3:00 remaining in the first half. After that the Lions made the knockout blow before halftime.

The Lions outscored Brown 11-2 in those three minutes. Barnes scored the final five points of the half. With 58 seconds left, the senior guard stole the ball from Lloyd right near Penn State's basket. Barnes completed a three-point play with a layup and a foul shot after Lloyd hacked him. The Lions held for the final shot after Kirk Lowry converted a free throw. With one second left Barnes scooped a shot in the basket to give the host team a 40-26 lead at halftime.

"We had a decent lead at the half," Parkhill said. "But the way these guys shoot it, a 15-point lead isn't that significant. I thought it was important that we didn't come out soft."

The Lions did anything but come out soft. The first play signified that the game was over. Eric Carr got behind his defender, Brown threw a perfect ally-oop pass and Carr slammed it down.

"It was a play coach put in two days ago," Carr said. "Basically, it was to keep the other team off guard. It's all about timing and working together."

Notes: Despite the Lions having a distinct height advantage, Matt Gaudio said Brown played a more physical game than the larger Morgan State team on Saturday night . . . Thursday night the Lions are back on the road as they travel to Huntington, W.Va., to play Marshall. On Dec. 29, the Lions defeated Marshall 78-64 in the West Palm Beach Classic consolation game.