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[ Thursday, March 23, 2000 ]
Win against Kent puts PSU back in NIT semifinals
By Geoff Dodd
Collegian Staff Writer
Even with an entourage of about 20 in a Bryce Jordan Center of 9,500 people last night, the Kent marching band made itself heard — with its voices.
"Penn State — you suck! Penn State — you suck!" it would yell moments before the third round National Invitation Tournament game between the Nittany Lions and the Golden Flashes.
PHOTO: J. Rajotte/Collegian
Penn State guard Joe Cripsin runs back after hitting a late second-hald 3-pointer. Penn State now will play in the NIT semifinals.
The Lions sucked, all right. They sucked up every amount of energy they had left after a marathon game against Siena Monday night to send Kent reeling, 81-74.
The win puts Penn State in the NIT national semifinals in New York City's Madison Square Garden for the second time in three years. Two years ago, the Lions advanced to the finals before losing to Big Ten rival Minnesota.
"Jerry Dunn had a great game plan in preventing us from getting the turnovers," Kent coach Gary Waters said about Penn State's coach.
Dunn said the biggest statistic of the night for his team was its 10 turnovers, minute compared to the 22 it had against Siena. To him, it was especially impressive considering Kent's press was nearly as forceful as Siena's.
"They didn't gamble as much," Lions guard Joe Crispin said about Kent. "It seemed like it was more one-on-one, rather than everyone coming at you."
Crispin scored 18 points on the night, but 13 of those came in the game's final two and a half minutes. Kent's defense held the Lions' leading scorer to just 2-of-13 from the field.
But with four other players in double figures, including Jarrett Stephens, who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, Crispin knew someone else could pick up his slack.
It was Crispin's 3-pointer, though — his first of the night after five fruitless tries — that caused the crowd to fall out of the once-empty blue chairs that used to dominate the arena. The bucket, which he took from the far corner, put the Lions ahead 61-53, eliminating any hope of a Golden Flashes comeback.
But, boy, did they get close. After Stephens missed both free throws after drawing an intentional foul on center John Whorton with 36 seconds remaining, the Golden Flashes found themselves within four points.
A quick foul by Demetric Shaw on Crispin put the Big Ten's leading free-throw shooter on the line, and he dropped both to make the score 77-71. But when Kent forward Eric Thomas took an offensive rebound and launched a trey with seven ticks left to make it 77-74, the comeback nearly was complete.
But when Crispin made his next two foul shots and Stephens stole the inbound for the easy buzzer-beater lay-up, time had run out on the Golden Flashes.
"I think it speaks volumes of the courage and the competitive attitude," Dunn said about keeping Kent away in the end. "It shows a lot of grit."
Penn State now plays Notre Dame in the NIT semifinals next Tuesday. The Fighting Irish knocked off Brigham Young 64-52 last night in South Bend, Ind.
