It was all business for the Penn State men's basketball team last night.

With a strong performance by all three starting seniors, the Nittany Lions defeated Yale 90-75 to end their two-game skid and regain their confidence.

"I felt good about the win," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn told the Penn State Sports Network. "I thought we played more as a unit on both ends of the floor."

Although the score resembles an impressive performance, it was not that way in the first half. The Bulldogs came out of the locker room shooting well and jumped up on the Lions early.

However, Yale suffered a slight dry spell that allowed Penn State to close in on the lead and eventually take it. One of the bigger lifts for the Lions was the play of guard Sharif Chambliss. The freshman came in off the bench and lit a fire.

Chambliss had a strong defesnive effort to go along with 10 points in that first half. He sparked a 10-0 run by Penn State midway through the first half, which put the Lions on top.

"I thought defensively is where it all started with him," Dunn said. "That got him going. And he made a couple big threes when he was open on the offensive end."

Behind sophomore Chris Leanza, the Bulldogs got their shooting stroke back to make the game interesting. It was tight for the remainder of the first half, but Penn State got a boost heading into the break. Lions senior Gyasi Cline-Heard converted on a three-point play to beat the shock-clock buzzer toward as the final seconds were winding down. His score made it a 47-42 Penn State advantage at the break.

The Lions used the momentum to come out firing in the second half. Seniors Joe Crispin and Titus Ivory both connected on three-pointers to extend the Penn State lead. With strong defensive play, the Lions slowly pulled away and eventually put the game out of reach.

"They got a lot of threes in the first half," Chambliss said. "In the second half, we decided we were going to slow it down. And defensively we stepped it up. Tonight was a great team effort."

The core of the team, its trio of seniors, led the charge by Penn State that clinched the game. Ivory and Crispin got over their shooting woes from the last two games to record 25 and 21 points, respectively. Cline-Heard added 17, grabbing nine rebounds as well.

It was a much needed victory for the Lions as they closed out their non-conference schedule. They did exactly what they needed to — get their confidence back for their fourth game of a four-game road trip. Up next is at No. 15 Wisconsin this Saturday.