Cagers to face Miami in NIT

By RYAN JONES
Collegian Sports Writer

The men's basketball team ended its regular season Saturday night with two things in its possession: a 69-60 win over NCAA tournament-bound Minnesota and the knowledge that its 17-10 record wouldn't be enough to earn a ticket to the Big Dance.

Last night, those same Lions ended their weekend with one more bit of information in hand: they will be hosting Miami, Fla. (15-12) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rec Hall in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.

Tickets for the game, which will be nationally televised by ESPN, go on sale at 8 a.m. today at the Rec Hall and Beaver Stadium ticket offices.

And while Penn Staters may be more familiar with the Hurricanes as football rivals, the Lions themselves actually have some indirect connections with their upcoming opponents.

But junior forward Glenn Sekunda, a transfer from Syracuse who faced Miami as a member of the Big East, said he probably won't recognize many of the current 'Canes.

"From when I was there, most of the cast is gone," said Sekunda, who last played a Big East schedule during the 1992-93 season.

One face Penn State might be familiar with is that of gangly European-born center Constantine Popa, with whom Lion swingman Greg Bartram attended high school.

"We were teammates at Fort Union Military Academy (in West Virginia)," Bartram said of Popa, who will face off with another foreign-born pivot man, Penn State center John Amaechi. And it will be that battle inside which should attract the most attention.

"Those two centers are two good centers," Bartram said. "It's going to be a great matchup."

But outside of any individual competition, the Lions are looking toward the NIT as a chance to make a point.

"This team wants to prove to everybody that we could've been an NCAA team," Sekunda said. "I don't see motivation as a problem."

Nor does Penn State seem concerned that not making the NCAA's field of 64 will cause a letdown. This trip, which marks the Lions' first postseason appearance since a first-round Rec Hall loss to Pitt in the 1992 NIT, is one the team is looking forward to.

"We're definitely gonna do our best to make a run," Bartram said. "We're going to give it a run no matter what tournament it is."