Nothing really shocks Ed DeChellis anymore. After Saturday's game, there is little left to the imagination.
By no means did it seem reasonable that the Nittany Lions, a team that had already lost an exhibition game to Division II Shippensburg and also lost one that counted in the win-loss column to Stony Brook, could close an eight-point gap on undefeated Saint Joseph's with 1:20 remaining.
But somehow, someway, as quick as a block from behind by swingman Geary Claxton on Hawks forward Ahmad
Nivins, with his bandaged right hand no less, Penn State (4-1) walked off the court with a 65-61 win against the Hawks (3-1) after completing a 13-1 run to finish the game.
With 25 seconds remaining, Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli saw Penn State sophomore guard Danny Morrissey sink a three-pointer from about four feet outside of the top of the key, bouncing the ball off the top of the backboard square to give the Lions a 62-61 lead.
He has also seen his team miss the first shots on one-and-one free throws twice -- after shooting 14-of-15 from the line prior.
Martelli, already peeved by what he was seeing, blew his lid when he saw Nivins' shot blocked by Claxton. He screamed for a foul on the blocked shot, insisting that sophomore forward Jamelle Cornley had held Nivins to the ground.
Martelli's behavior, with his team down one, raised some eyebrows, but not for DeChellis.
"Nothing shocks me," DeChellis said. "Nothin'."
Morrissey's three, only 13 seconds after another three-point shot by the sophomore guard, pulled Penn State within one. These shots don't usually come two games in a row -- the threes came on the heels of junior guard Mike Walker's buzzer-beating three to cap a victory against Bucknell last Tuesday.
DeChellis insisted he heard nearby assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie call "bank" on the Morrissey's shot.
Morrissey, the hero of the hour, credited good defense by St. Joe's for the heightened trajectory of the shot. To the best of anyone's knowledge, he didn't call the bank.
"Yeah, I yelled it, it was just a little too loud to hear," Morrissey joked.
Penn State held a 31-28 lead at halftime, as sophomore forward Jamelle Cornley scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half. Cornley, who added 10 rebounds, also shot and made his first three-pointer of his career.
It was a strong effort from Cornley, who showed it by losing nine pounds in water weight during the course of the game. He weighed in at 238 pounds before the game and checked in at 229 pounds after cramping up repeatedly.
The whole team, including Cornley, suffered a lull in the second half, as the Lions found themselves down by 10 points with 5:07 remaining. Cornley shot 1-for-6 from the line in the second half.
But after Claxton, with his right pinkie almost fully healed, rolled two makes from the free throw line with the tips of his fingers, Penn State went 11-for-14 from the line in the final five minutes.
Events started to go the Lions' way. DeChellis was in no way opposed to Morrissey's shot selection, especially the eventual game-winner -- even if it would have looked cleaner if he had shot it from midcourt.
"Yeah, shoot it," DeChellis said. "He's open, shoot it. Shoot it. We got to score. He's a very good shooter. I don't have a problem with him catching and shooting it any time he wants. We needed him to make a play. He made a play."
Martelli, irate after the game, was not as enamored with the play.
"That's a bank, that's a bullshit shot," he said. "That's no big deal."
