Let it never be said that the New Zealand National Team doesn't do all it can to intimidate opponents.

Though it doesn't list a single player on its roster taller than 6 foot 9 or bigger than 216 pounds, it uses a different tool to try and get opponents off their game—a strange tribal dance and chant it performs before each of its games. When it performed the ritual in front of the Penn State men's basketball team last night, the Nittany Lions weren't sure what to think.

"I didn't know what they were saying," junior point guard Brandon Watkins said. "One of them was getting real red in his face. I thought that doesn't seem like a happy chant."

However, New Zealand's pregame creativity didn't make up for it's lack of size, and the Lions got a rare opportunity to be the more physical of the two teams on the floor.

The Lions outrebounded New Zealand 35-22 en route to earning a split of their two exhibition games with an 83-65 victory.

"It felt like high school there for a second," senior forward Tyler Smith said. "I felt like I didn't have to even box anybody out. I could just jump and tip it to myself. It's been awhile since I was in a game like this."

The Lions never trailed in the game and took a commanding lead late in the first half with a 14-0 run spearheaded by eight straight free throws by Watkins. New Zealand would never come back within 10 points.

Watkins would go on to lead the Lions in points with 16. His eight for eight performance at the line was matched by senior guard Ken Krimmel, and the Lions went 25 for 28 from the free throw line overall. It was a vast improvement from their nine for 18 performance at the charity stripe against Team Nike Friday night.

"I was very proud of my team for that," Watkins said. "We work on free throws every day in practice. "

The Lions were also much more disciplined offensively. They attempted just 11 three-pointers compared to the 30 they put up against Nike Elite. They finished a paltry two for 11 from outside the arc, but shot much better inside, finishing with a 50.9 team field goal percentage.

The Lions got offensive production from a few sources not used to being big scorers. Junior forward B.J. Vossekuil finished second on the team in scoring behind Watkins with 14 points. Senior point guard Ken Krimmel had 10, and sophomore forward Ndu Egekeze, still recovering from knee surgery, had 10 as well. The Lions may have to get a lot of production from those other players. Sophomore guard Jamaal Tate left the game with an undisclosed leg injury.

The New Zealand squad was lead by guards Lindsay Tait and Troy McLean with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

With the exhibition season now over, Penn State coach Jerry Dunn will have to try to figure out who he wants on the floor when Yale comes to the Bryce Jordan Center for the team's first official game at 2 p.m. Sunday.

"On any given night, I think there will be different guys stepping up," Dunn said. "I don't think anyone can say 'I'm definitely going to be a 25 to 30 minute guy' because I think there will be people pushing each other over the year, and that certainly should bring out the competitiveness among us as a team and make us better."