In Michael Jennings' jive-talking world, everything has a nickname. Even his dunks.

The pencil-thin shooting guard for the men's basketball team had just slammed home three different styles of jams in the Lions' 97-44 exhibition mauling of the Samara Club of Russia last night in Rec Hall.

So Michael, what were they called?

"The razzle-dazzle, the Q-tip hesitation dunk . . ." He trailed off.

The third dunk, he said, was supposed to be a reverse slam, but a last-minute change of plans forced him to push it through behind his head.

"If I see an opening I'm gonna take it," Jennings said. "I'm gonna do some kind of funky dunk that will put us into it."

Jennings' three funky dunks and two three-point bombs capped a five-for-five shooting night. He finished with 13 points in just 16 minutes of play.

The Severna Park, Md., native joined forward Greg Bartram (16) and center John Amaechi (19) as double-figure scorers in the Lions' dismantling of the outmatched Russians.

Penn State jumped out to a 23-4 lead and never looked back on a Russian squad which was playing its fifth U.S. exhibition.

"I thought they looked listless and sluggish," Coach Bruce Parkhill said of the Samara Club. "I would have preferred to have been challenged more."

Samara committed 23 turnovers and shot only 25.9 percent from the field. Guard Youry Leonov hit four three-point bombs and led the club with 14 points.

Penn State simply dominated the boards, behind freshman Phil Williams' 13 rebounds. Williams, however, simply could not put the ball in the basket -- he finished 1-for-12 from the floor.

"I think Phil did a tremendous job on the boards," said Amaechi, who pulled down nine rebounds himself. "He was eating people alive out there."

"The things at the offensive end will come," Parkhill added. "I love the way he snatches the ball."

The game was Penn State's final tune-up before its season-opener at Vanderbilt Friday night. And while the Lions have certainly progressed from a lackluster exhibition win over Marathon Oil last week, they are still getting their bearings on Parkhill's new motion offense.

"It's getting better, but its certainly not where we need it to be," Parkhill said. "Vandy will play much better defense. We'll get a better gauge down there."

Notes:

-- Freshman Dan Earl started at point guard ahead of Donovan Williams.

"I told the guys (the lineup) is not etched in stone and starting is not really a big deal," Parkhill said.

-- The athletic ticket office encourages all students who haven't already picked up their season tickets to do so by the end of this week.