Playing catch-up the entire game, the Nittany Lions caught their second loss of the season, as Miami of Ohio went on a late run to seal an 81-68 victory in front of 6,003 spectators last night in Millett Hall.

Shooting 58 percent from the floor, the Redskins (2-0) landed four players in double figures as the Penn State defense continued to disappoint Coach Bruce Parkhill.

"We didn't play anywhere near good enough to win," Parkhill said during the radio postgame show. "We are not getting the rebounds that we need."

With injuries depleting the Penn State power forward position, Parkhill turned to center John Amaechi to patrol the glass with extra emphasis. But with only five boards, Amaechi failed to please the coach.

"John is not rebounding the way we need him to considering we are without a power forward," Parkhill said.

The starter at power forward, Eric Carr, exited the game within the first three minutes after quickly receiving two personal fouls. His replacement, John Dietz, posted his second strong outing off the bench, sinking a career-high 14 points.

"John played hard and with a lot of enthusiasm," Parkhill said of Dietz, normally a small forward. "He's playing out of position, but he has had two good games in a row."

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Miami rumbled to a 21-11 lead on the wings of a 10-point run. But Dietz, a senior, sparked a Penn State surge which closed the gap to 38-34 by the half.

An Amaechi bucket early in the second half brought the Lions within one, 43-42, but this was the closest they would ever come.

Several unforced turnovers by Penn State and the hot hand of Miami's Matt Kramer allowed the 'Skins to gradually build a lead which reached a high point of 17 points with five minutes remaining.

Kramer, saddled with only two points and three fouls in the first half, finished the evening with 16 points.

For the Lions, DeRon Hayes was held to only eight points, but he did post a game-high six rebounds while dishing five assists.

"We really had trouble getting into our offense," Parkhill said. "And that wears on you. You can never establish any continuity. We missed some shots inside which we really needed to go down."

Notes:

-- When the Lions host Akron at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Rec Hall, Hayes will need only two points to move into fifth place on the Lions all-time scoring list. Currently, Hayes has 1,242 points, two shy of Monroe Brown.

-- For the third consecutive game, the Lions were trailing at the halftime break.

-- The Lions finished the evening shooting 52 percent from the field, a marked improvement over their 39 percent showing at Duquesne and 48 percent against Mount St. Mary's.

-- Tickets are still available for tomorrow's game against Akron and Saturday's matchup with James Madison. Only 4,000 trekked to Rec Hall for the Lions' opener last Saturday.

This story was written from the radio play-by-play account of the game.