On to New York: Cagers sting Yellow Jackets

ATLANTA -- Pete Lisicky's message was simple, but effective.

With 11 minutes and 55 seconds left to play in last night's men's National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech, with the Nittany Lions up by two points, the senior guard went to his bench and yelled, "This is our time."

The Lions listened.

They held off a feisty Yellow Jacket team (19-14) to win 75-70 in front of 8,753 fans at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Penn State (18-12) advances to the NIT semifinals and will play the winner of tonight's Georgia-Vanderbilt game on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

"This is my first time going to the Garden as a head coach," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "I've been there several times as an assistant and it is a great experience, especially for our young guys. I'm not sure we wanted to end our season just yet."

Last night, it showed. The Lions weathered an early second-half Yellow Jacket run and never lost their poise.

Penn State had an 8-point halftime lead but saw Georgia Tech chip away, scoring the first seven points of the second half.

Georgia Tech took the lead a little over four minutes into the half on a basket by Georgia Tech forward Matt Harpring. The Lions smothered the third-team All-American all night using various defenders, but the senior managed to score 25 points in his final game as a Yellow Jacket.

Penn State traded baskets with Georgia Tech for the next eight minutes. Then, with the game tied at 54, freshman Greg Grays hit his first 3-pointer of the night, which was followed by two Jarrett Stephens free throws to put the Lions up by five.

The Yellow Jackets responded with a 3-pointer of their own from Harpring with the shot clock running out.

The game remained close until Calvin Booth made an aggressive move to the basket with a little over two minutes left to play and was fouled by Michael Maddox. The ball somehow bounced in and Penn State took a 67-64 lead.

Booth, who was on the bench with four fouls for most of the second half, hit a hook shot to extend the lead to five. Joe Crispin, Lisicky and Grays hit free throws down the stretch to seal the victory and complete the Lions' metamorphosis from a team that was 3-6 in the Big Ten at one point.

"Back then, I knew we had the potential to be a good team," Lisicky said. "I don't think everyone else realized that after we lost Danny (Earl)."

Lisicky finished the game with 18 points and moved into second on the Penn State all-time scoring list with 1,581 career points, passing DeRon Hayes. He and Grays led the team in scoring.

Grays played a phenomenal game going 7 for 11 from the field in 23 minutes.

"I told them in the locker room, it's about time he started shooting." Stephens said, who finished with 14 points.

It was a night full of stars for Penn State, though, as Booth scored 16 and blocked four shots outdoing Georgia Tech's Alvin Jones, who only blocked three.

Jones blocked two of Booth's shots early, which fired the Penn State center up.

"I was really upset with myself," Booth said. "I wanted the ball back so I could go back at him." Booth will now get an opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden, where in his redshirt season he watched the Lions take third place in the 1995 NIT.

"I just want to go out and help Pete win this thing," Booth said. "It is his last tournament. We just have to play well and get something going for next year."