LaSalle Coach John Lyons joked before Saturday's swimming and diving meet that he was wishing for 20 inches of snow so his team would not have to compete with Penn State.

But the weather was not on his side.

The Lions (4-4) crushed the Explorers (5-4) 132-70 at home in their last dual meet of the season. The win comes as Penn State is preparing for the Big Ten Championships in Minnesota on Feb. 23-25.

Because of those championships, Swimming Coach Peter Brown said now is the important time for the team to do well.

"We had good performances across the board," he said. "The whole group really came together."

Freshman Greg Stacey said he was happy with his own performance in the 50 free -- a season-best of 20.99 seconds -- as well as the team's overall performance.

"By far this is our best team performance," he said. "This win felt good and it was perfect timing for us."

He added the win gives the Lions momentum heading into Big Tens.

The Lion divers also had an impressive meet. Senior Chris Devine finished first in both the 1- and 3-meter events. He qualified for the NCAA championships with his 3-meter score (356.55).

Lion Seth Kane took second in the 1-meter and teammate Drew Jackson placed third. Lone Explorer diver Marc Ciambrello finished fourth in the 1-meter and second in the 3-meter.

Lion Diving Coach Craig Brown said the team worked harder physically in this meet.

"Being at home, it was easier to go in straight," he said. "Some things really clicked, and our warm-up was spectacular."

The Explorers had a few strong swimming performances. The team's only first-place finish was posted by the 200 free relay team (Steve Duncheskie, Kevin Kaufman, Erich Weibl and Ryan Young). Kaufman also took second in the 200 butterfly. Junior Brian Santangelo finished second in the 100 breastroke and junior Paul DiConti placed second in the 200 backstroke.

Note:

-- Many other Lion swimmers also recorded season bests on Saturday -- George Reimer in the 200 IM (1:54.90), Alex Cunha in the 200 fly (1:52.07), Chris Glenn in the 500 free (4:43.29), Brian Palme in the 200 back (1:51.84), and Ned Walsh and Matt Whipple in the 200 free (1:44.55 and 1:45.32, respectively). Both the 200 medley relay team (1:33.02) and the 200 free relay team (1:24.22) swam season bests.