An easy way to tell a program is headed in the right direction is when an 11-point victory is just not good enough.
"It shouldn't have been that close," said Jan Jagla, the Penn State Men's Basketball team's center.
If the Nittany Lions would have kept up the tempo they started each half against the Cleveland State Vikings with, Jagla's expectations would likely have been met. The Lions nearly squandered the 23-point lead they held midway through the first half. The Vikings were able to claw their way back within nine points of the surging Lions by halftime.
Then again in the second half, the Lions reasserted their style of play and amassed a 21-point lead just over 10 minutes into the half. However, as the half winded down, Penn State started looking flat and the Vikings once again narrowed the gap, cutting that lead to 11 twice. According to men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis, these Lions haven't experienced a big lead in a college basketball game very often.
"We haven't been in that position a lot," Penn State Men's Basketball head coach Ed DeChellis said. "We're so young we think that we have a lead and, whew, now we can relax."
DeChellis said that it's hard to simulate such a situation in practice. The only way to improve is to hopefully get more of these big leads in games and be able to handle them effectively.
The process is a natural one. The youth of the team showed Wednesday night each time they went a little flat and the Vikings would challenge. Learning to handle a big lead like this, DeChellis said, "is just part of growing up."
Fortunately for the Lions, they were able to turn it back on and hold on for the win. DeChellis noticed a more gritty performance from his team, something they will need in the future if they hope to continue with their winning trend. With a big game against Pittsburgh coming up and the grueling Big Ten schedule looming on the horizon, the young Lions will need to learn how hold these leads.
"Stuff like that can't happen against better teams," Jagla said. "A better team would've taken more advantage of it."
