Lisicky rises once again

DAYTON, Ohio -- There's one in every crowd.

You know the guy. He sits in front of you, screaming at officials and using every four-letter word in the book in hopes of throwing off one of the players. But this one taunted the wrong guy.

One of the 13,409 fans that packed into the University of Dayton Arena for last night's Penn State-Dayton men's basketball game decided to hang up a sign that read, "Pete Lisucky." Clever, but stupid.

The result -- Pete Lisicky scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers and the game-sealing free throws, giving Penn State a 77-74 victory.

"I have no problem with people having fun," Lisicky said of the fan's wit. "But that kind of got me going."

And going and going and going . . . Lisicky put another exclamation point on his career with clutch shooting down the stretch that propelled the Nittany Lions into the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. They will play Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets defeated Georgetown in overtime last night, 80-79.

Last night, Lisicky looked like a senior who never wanted his career to end. Every time the game was in danger of slipping away from the Lions, Lisicky refused to let it happen.

"He's a senior," Lion coach Jerry Dunn said. "He's been through this before."

Remember his freshman year?

At Iowa in the quarterfinal of the 1994-95 NIT, Lisicky buried a 3-pointer with time running out to send Penn State to New York City.

Last night, he had two free throws with six seconds remaining to ice the game and put the Lions up 77-74. But, believe it or not, this may have been the least of his heroics.

With a little more than seven minutes left in the game and Penn State down by seven, he began drilling treys. Three, to be exact, over the next five minutes. The last 3-pointer came with 2:37 left and tied the game at 71.

"That's All-American play," Lion forward Jarrett Stephens said. "That's what Pete Lisicky is all about, making threes when it counts."

Stephens was also the recipient of Lisicky's most important pass of the night. With :43 left to play in the game and four seconds on the shot clock, Lisicky placed an in-bounds pass in the perfect spot for Stephens to tip it in and give the Lions a three-point lead.

"We've never run it in a game before, just in practice," Stephens said. "This was the best time for it. It was a perfect pass."

The senior from Whitehall began his heroics early in the first half. Dayton came out of the gate like a ball of fire, jumping out to a 15-6 lead. Then Lisicky acted as the fire extinguisher.

He scored the next seven Penn State points and sparked a 13-2 run that gave the Lions their first lead of the game. The Flyers' Edwin Young tightened his defense and held Lisicky scoreless for the rest of the half.

He didn't break free again until Penn State was in dire need of a burst. That came at the 10:18 mark in the second half and Lisicky hit his first 3-pointer of the half to bring the Lions to within six.

Lisicky has talked all season about how important it is for him to go out as a winner. Last night, he kept it in the back of his head that if the Lions lost it would be the finish of his Penn State career.

"I'm not thinking about it, but I'm playing like that," Lisicky said. "I don't want to go out on a sour note."

Note to Georgia Tech fans: leave your signs at home.