Hurricanes humbled
Cagers' second-half comeback keys win

By KEVIN GORMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

With an emotional crowd of 4,529 providing the lift, the men's basketball team climbed upon the back of John Amaechi to erase a 20-point second-half deficit to defeat Miami (Fla.), 62-56, in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at Rec Hall last night.

"I really think our fans had a lot to do with that. That crowd was terrific, absolutely terrific," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "We were trying to find the the juice to make a comeback and that crowd really helped us a lot.

"The kind of effort it takes to make that kind of comeback that quick, it's hard to explain. Those guys left everything on the floor and that's what we were asking them to do: Play for pride and leave everything on the floor."

In effect, the Lions left with an improbable comeback victory and the floor filled with a surplus of students, who rushed onto the court as the final second ticked from the scoreboard above.

Trailing 48-28 with 14 minutes, seven seconds remaining, the postseason hung in the balance for a team that had a choice to make: Win and continue through the NIT or take a loss and watch the NCAAs on television today.

The Nittany Lions (18-10) chose the former, using a half-court pressure defense that trapped the Hurricanes (15-13), forced eight turnovers and allowed only one field goal before Steven Edwards scored a layup with 19.9 seconds.

In that time, the Lions outscored the Hurricanes, 30-3.

They capitalized on Miami's 19 second-half personal fouls, converting 22 of 26 free throws, including 17 of 19 in the last 6:34. And Amaechi scored 15 points -- nine on free throws -- in the second half to finish with a game-high 21 points.

"I've always wanted to be a person the team can rely on, to at least initiate some type of movement on offense," Amaechi said.

And Hurricane Coach Leonard Hamilton agreed: "We rotated three guys on him and we were extremely physical with him. He never lost his poise and composure, he went 6-of-7 (from the field) and 9-of-10 (from the line) and I thought we did a pretty good job against him."

Amaechi aside, the Lions shot only 11 of 42 from field-goal range and 4 of 21 from three-point range (19 percent). Freshman guard Pete Lisicky's statistics were indicative of both the Lions' shooting woes and fortunes.

Lisicky missed his first eight shots and finished with seven points on 3 of 13 shooting. But each of Lisicky's baskets gave the Lions momentum, especially his three-pointer that closed the gap to three, 51-48, at 3:34.

"But the primary factor was defense," Parkhill insisted. "The defensive end is where the game was won."

However, it was the defensive end that was lethargic in the first half.

After Penn State jumped to a 10-2 lead in the first 3:53, Miami called a timeout and regrouped. Behind slashing junior swingman Edwards' nine points and 7-foot-3 senior center Constantin Popa's seven, the Hurricanes used a 17-0 run to outscore the Lions, 31-10, for a 13-point halftime lead.

The Hurricanes continued to blow through the Lion defense until the 14:07 mark, when Parkhill addressed his team during a television timeout and called on their pride.

"I said, 'Hey, you guys are better than this. And you've got more pride. You're better than this and let's show it. Dig deep. And you just don't want to go down like this.' "

Fourteen minutes, seven seconds and 34 points later, Parkhill and his team exited the floor with a victory and a season extended by at least one more game.