NEW YORK -- The floor shook and laptops and chairs on press row rattled.
In the Madison Square Garden rafters, banners honoring the likes of Patrick Ewing and Mark Messier swayed back and forth, and even the baskets on the floor rocked.
Jeff Brooks had just knocked down a 3-pointer to put Penn State ahead by nine with 10:39 to play. As Baylor took a timeout, the euphoric Nittany Lions' crowd jumped up and down and sang along to "Seven Nation Army" and "Zombie Nation."
"To be honest, this is louder than our home arena is," senior guard Danny Morrissey said amidst the postgame ceremony on the floor. "Obviously you talk about the Garden being the most famous arena in the world -- that adds to it -- but to have these students driving up here in 30 or so buses, 2 or 3,000 student fans, I can't say enough about how special that is."
For what was supposed to be a neutral site in an afterthought of a tournament, Penn State took full advantage.
The entire program and fanbase suffered through the disappointment of Selection Sunday, as Penn State became the odd man out in the Big Ten despite finishing one double-overtime loss at Iowa away from earning the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
"They wanted to win a championship, and they wanted to do something special," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "We were disappointed a few weeks ago by not being selected to the other tournament, but our kids put that behind us right away, and our goal was to come in and win this thing.
"The Nittany Lions achieved their goal in Thursday's defeat of Baylor, becoming just the second team in school history to win a postseason tournament.
The 1990-91 team won the Atlantic 10 tournament in its second-to-last season before joining the Big Ten. Penn State previously made it to the NIT semifinals four times but never won the title.
"When the buzzer went off, it was just a sense of excitement and joy," senior forward Jamelle Cornley said. "I've been waiting so long to win here at Penn State, and this year to go 27-11 -- the best record in Penn State history -- words can't explain how I feel."
For Cornley and the other seniors, the goal all year was to finish their careers in the NCAA tournament.
They may not have made the Big Dance, but they did get the opportunity to finish their careers on a winning note while notching consecutive wins against SEC, Big East and Big 12 schools in front of national audiences.
"We are so proud to be part of this tournament," DeChellis said. "We were on national TV four times, which helps us tremendously. We have an opportunity for our fans to come to New York and spend a few days.
"You know, it couldn't have been any better for us. It's worked out perfectly."
