Who walks around campus chomping on Twizzlers and eating icing right out of the container?
According to Tyler Smith it's the "Energizer Bunny" Sharif Chambliss.
"Reef kind of lives his life on Twizzlers and icing from cakes," Smith said.
Tonight, that sugar filled diet paid off as Chambliss used his sweet stroke from the outside to light a match under the Lions midway through the first half.
Chambliss hit his first three with the Nittany Lions trailing 15-8 at the 9:09 mark of the first half and single handedly scored 12 straight points, all on three-point baskets to put the Lions on a 12-4 run to take a 20-19 lead.
The Lions took the lead at that point for good and never trailed the rest of the way en route to a 61-48 victory.
For the second straight game Chambliss posted a career high in points. He led all scorers with 20 points on 5-for-6 shooting behind the arc and 6-for-8 overall. He also grabbed five rebounds and three steals.
This is the second straight good performance for the sophomore from Wisconsin who struggled in the team's first four games shooting 8-for-26 from the outside. Chambliss is 10-for-17 in threepointers over the last two games, a sizzling 58.8 percent.
Many may not have expected this performance from Chambliss, but Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana came into the game with Chambliss on his mind.
"We were worried; really worried about Chambliss coming in and he didn't do anything to change that opinion," Mentesana said. "Watching him on tape was kind of scary and he lit us up a little bit."
The offense started to open up a bit in the second half with the Mountain Hawks keying on Chambliss as he was limited to just five second-half points while allowing Smith to get in the act.
Smith scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Penn State coach Jerry Dunn attributed this to Chambliss spreading the defense.
"I think that when Sharif is shooting the ball well it certainly extends the defense," Dunn said. "It creates not only dribble-drive opportunities, but also touches. I thought we did a good job of getting the ball to Tyler Smith when they had their extended defense on Sharif Chambliss."
Chambliss played 31 minutes off of the bench and has seen significant time over the past five games. Yet to start a game this year, many are asking when Dunn will insert the speedy guard into the starting lineup.

