By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions made it two-straight wins in the Bryce Jordan Center after defeating Army, 78-70, on Saturday night.

Behind two halves of hard-fought basketball, Penn State out-shot, out-rebounded and out-hustled the Black Knights. And even when Army pulled within two to make it 52-50 with less than 12 minutes to play, the Lions persevered and went on a 10-0 run to extend their lead.

In the first half of the contest, Penn State shot 56 percent from the floor as a team and pulled down 22 rebounds to Army's seven. The Lions were able to spread the offense against a tough full-court press, and got six players on the board in the opening 20 minutes.

At the end of the evening, Army head coach Zach Spiker tipped his hat to Lions' head coach Patrick Chambers and the fight his players brought from tip-off on.

"Penn State plays hard," said Spiker. "They're a direct reflection of their head coach and they play hard. In the first half, they shoot 56 - it doesn't matter if you're at home, on the road, non-league or league, we cannot win when a team shoots 56 and you shoot 37."

After putting up 40 in the first, Penn State continued to charge and added another 38 before the night ended. But none of those came uncontested.

Leading by just five with 10 minutes left to play, sophomores D.J. Newbill and Ross Travis and freshman Brandon Taylor combined for a 10-0 run in less than five minutes. Taylor tallied five, Newbill added four and Travis added one behind the foul line.

The Lions' ability to surge on offense and play 40 solid minutes of gritty defense kept them on top. Four players ended the game in double-figures. Travis, who had nabbed 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, said that his team's constant work ethic is what made the difference.

"I think it just starts at practice when we're playing five-on-no one or five-on-five just going hard all of the time," said Travis. "We don't lose any conditioning or anything like that so it just transfers over to the game. Our training coach always says that if you go hard in practice you're going to go hard in game so that's what we're doing."

Penn State ended the day shooting 50.9 percent from the floor, 36.8 percent beyond the arc and 13-of-20 at the line. As the team continues to bear a few growing pains together, Newbill said that it was important for multiple people to have their hands on the ball from start to finish.

"It's big," said Newbill. "That's one thing that we try to do is share the ball and play with confidence. I think guys are finding their flow."

With the win, the Lions improve to 5-4 overall and have just three games left until the start of their Big Ten season. And according to Coach Chambers, Penn State is going to have to keep the positive juices flowing and find some consistency in order to succeed down the road.

"You've got to do the little things that make great programs great teams," said Chambers. "When you play hard you get a little bit lucky and success finds you. It goes back to attitude."

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome to live in-game coverage of the Nittany Lion basketball team.

Take a look back at Penn State's 78-70 victory over Army inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday afternoon.

Starting Lineups:
Penn State - G - Marshall, G - Newbill, F - Travis, F - Taylor, F - Borovnjak
Army - G - Toth, G - Cox, F - Ellis, F - Toomey, F - Springer

15:38 1st Half - Penn State 7, Army 2
Like he did at La Salle on Wednesday night, forward Ross Travis came out of the gate red hot.  Travis knocked down a baseline jumper on the right side of the floor to give the Lions a 4-0 lead before drilling a 3-pointer on the left wing.  Travis is a dangerous player when he makes jump shots.

11:11 1st Half - Penn State 18, Army 10
The Nittany Lions are off to a superb shooting start this afternoon in the BJC.  Fueled by good ball movement, the Lions are shooting 62 percent from the field in the opening minutes en route to an 18-10 lead over the Black Knights.  Five different Nittany Lions have scored in the early minutes, led by seven from Travis.

7:59 1st Half - Penn State 25, Army 13
Following Wednesday's trip to La Salle, Coach Chambers stressed the importance of playing hard every second the Lions are on the floor.  Penn State has been terrific thus far against Army.  The Lions are shooting 58 percent from the field, but the defensive effort has been very good, as well.  Marshall and Newbill each have seven points to propel the Nittany Lions to a 12-point edge on the scoreboard.

3:53 1st Half - Penn State 33, Army 21
Penn State's flow on offense has been the big key to the Lions' hot shooting in the first half.  We talked about good ball movement during the last timeout.  That trend has continued deep into the half, and the Lions are 15-for-26 from the field during the first half.  Army's five 3-pointers are the only thing keeping the Black Knights anywhere close in the first half of play.  Nonetheless, Penn State has played the type of offensive half it needed today.

Halftime - Penn State 40, Army 28
The Lions head into the locker room after a big offensive board and put-back from Sasa Borovnjak sent the crowd at the Bryce Jordan Center roaring. Penn State is shooting 56 percent from the floor and has spread the offense between six different players. Jermaine Marshall went 5-of-8 from the floor with a team high 11 points and has been controlling the offense alongside D.J. Newbill. The Penn State ATTITUDE is in the house today, too, as the team has out-rebounded the Black Knights 22-7.

14:48 2nd Half - Penn State 46, Army 38
The Black Knights and the Nittany Lions have looked like different teams out of the locker room.  Army answered a Newbill lay-in with five unanswered points to trim the Penn State lead down to nine.  The Black Knights got as close as eight, but a big basket from Newbill pushed the lead back to double figures heading into the timeout.  Penn State will be addressing consistency on the defensive end of the floor during the first media timeout of the half.

10:48 2nd Half - Penn State 55, Army 50
An 8-2 spurt from Army sliced Penn State's double-digit lead down to just four (59-46) with 13:37 to play in the contest.  The Black Knights have done a nice job in the second half of disrupting Penn State's offensive flow by forcing the Lions to work through a full court press.  Army got as close as two, but a Colella 3-pointer set the score at five heading into the timeout.  The Lions need to find more consistency on both ends of the floor down the stretch.

3:58 2nd Half - Penn State 70, Army 60
Army closed to within four at the 9:52 mark, but Brandon Taylor and D.J. Newbill had seen enough.  The duo combined for nine of Penn State's 10 points on a 10-0 scoring spurt, which put the Lions up by 14 before an Army 3-pointer.  Newbill, Taylor, Travis and Marshall are all in double figures for the Nittany Lions.  Penn State did a nice job weathering the Army rally before doing what it needed to when the game was on the line.

FINAL - Penn State 78, Army 70
The Nittany Lions needed 40 minutes of hard-fought basketball to win on Saturday afternoon.  Army had the score at 52-50 with just under 10 minutes to play.  From there, the Lions used a pivotal 10-0 scoring run to stretch the lead.  Penn State shot a season-high 51 percent from the field and had four players in double figures.  Newbill led the way with 19 points and six assists.  Marshall tallied 16 points and six rebounds.  Travis notched his second-career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Taylor also finished with 14 points.  Give the Nittany Lions a great deal of credit for battling through some adversity in the second half when Army mounted a charge.  For the Nittany Lions to win, like we have said before, they need to play hard for the duration of basketball games to win.  On Saturday, they did that and the result speaks for itself.  Additionally, the balanced attack was huge for the Nittany Lions on Saturday, and it will lead to a lot more confidence on the offensive end of the floor.

Coach Chambers said after the game that he wants to go a little deeper on the bench moving forward to give the rotation some rest.  He also said that he was pleased with how the team dug deep in the second half after Army mounted its run.

The Nittany Lions will have a week before returning to the BJC for a matchup against Delaware State.


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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion basketball team (4-4) will look to make it two-straight victories in the Bryce Jordan Center when the Lions take on Army (4-3) Saturday at 4 p.m.

Penn State defeated Penn last Saturday in the BJC before falling on the road in The Palestra against La Salle on Wednesday.  Get ready for Saturday's clash with Army here:

Defending the Arc
Penn State fell victim to a red-hot perimeter shooting night against La Salle on Wednesday night.  The Explorers drained 16 of their 31 3-point attempts en route to a 48-9 edge over the Nittany Lions from beyond the arc.  It goes without saying that Penn State must do a better job closing out on the perimeter shooters against Army.  Give La Salle credit for making 16 threes, but the Lions need to play better defense on the outside against an Army team that went 15-for-30 from 3-point range in its win over Marist on Wednesday night.

Rebounding
Coach Chambers knows his team needs to rebound and defend to put itself in a position to win every night.  Those two items will be direct correlations to the Nittany Lions winning or losing basketball games throughout the 2012-13 season.  In Penn State's four wins, the Lions are a combined +27 in rebounding.  In the four losses, the Nittany Lions are -2 in rebounding.  Jon Graham, Sasa Borovnjak and Ross Travis are the three big keys for Penn State's rebounding success.

Early Shooting
Arguably, Penn State played its best offensive half of the season on Wednesday night at The Palestra, shooting 57 percent from the field and scoring 34 points against a talented La Salle squad.  Penn State is a completely different team when it knocks down jump shots.  Jermaine Marshall played very well in Philly, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the first half.  Travis tallied 10 points, including a trio of jump shots in the opening 20 minutes at La Salle.  Travis is very difficult player to defend when he makes jump shots.  All that being said, Penn State needs to continue its trend of quick shooting starts in the first half.  The Lions can ill afford to dig themselves out of an early shooting slump.

Playing 40 Minutes
While a quick shooting start is a big boost, the Nittany Lions can use Wednesday night's game as a prime example of what happens when they don't put 40 minutes of basketball together.  Maximum effort on both ends of the floor is essential for two halves every single time the Nittany Lions step onto the floor.  Penn State played very well for 25 minutes in The Palestra.  The Lions were in a two-point game with 15 minutes to play before falling by 25.  The final score was not indicative of how well Penn State played early on.  The game was decided in the second half when the Lions did not sustain their effort on the defensive end of the floor.  It's tough to expect a rotation of seven or eight players to leave everything on the floor for 40 minutes every single night, but that is how the Nittany Lions will compete to win games.

Scouting the Black Knights
Army enters Saturday's game with a 4-3 record following an impressive 91-point scoring outburst against Marist (91-57) on Wednesday.  Army has victories over VMI (80-74), Binghamton (85-76), St. Francis (N.Y.) (67-59) and Marist.  The three losses came at the hands of Air Force (76-65), Yale (86-83 in 2OT) and Bryant (70-59).  Army started three freshmen and two seniors against Marist.  Freshman guard Kyle Toth scored 20 points in the victory over Marist.  Forward Ella Ellis (6-7) is Army's leading scorer at 19.7 points per game and rebounder at 5.3 boards per contest.  Keep an eye on freshman Kyle Wilson, who averages 11.7 points off the bench.  Saturday marks the 41st meeting between the Black Knights and Penn State (23-17 PSU), and it is the first game in the series since Dec. 10, 2008.


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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State's clash with La Salle on Wednesday night in The Palestra had a feel every college basketball game should have.

Playing an intra-state foe in a historic structure with close-to-the-court seating like The Palestra lends itself to a great atmosphere, alone, but Wednesday's trip to Philadelphia fits the mold of head coach Patrick Chambers' vision of Nittany Lion basketball to a T.

"I want to be a part of this.  I want to play Philadelphia teams," Chambers said.  "It can only help us.  My big thing is that we have to get prepared for the Big Ten.  Win or lose, it doesn't matter - prepare yourself for the Big Ten.  And these are great teams."

On the surface, it's great for the Nittany Lions to play intra-state teams for rivalries and fan interest.  Wednesday night's crowd was roughly 4,500 people inside The Palestra, but it was loud, often hard to hear the person next to you, from start to finish.  And it was fairly well balanced between La Salle fans and Penn State supporters.

"It was a great atmosphere for basketball - even on both sides," Philadelphia native D.J. Newbill said.  "You couldn't hear anything.  It felt like a packed house, just like we expected."

Chambers wants to play in places Penn State fans can watch the Nittany Lions.  That's why the men's hoops team will play in several Pennsylvania locations on a regular basis, including Pittsburgh next year, not to mention a return to Philadelphia annually.

A Philadelphia native with roots of attending Big 5 games in The Palestra, Chambers bleeds Philly basketball.  Wednesday was his first time as a head coach in The Palestra.  Despite the outcome on Wednesday night, he loved every minute of the experience.  He took the team around the building to show them the rich history of great players and teams who have competed in The Palestra since it opened in 1927.

"We have to be here," Chambers said after the game on Wednesday.  "That's why I took my team around to show them the corridors to show them the history of the Big 5 and what Philadelphia basketball is all about."

In addition to the general local interest, playing games in Philadelphia will pay huge dividends for the Nittany Lions in recruiting.  Penn State has a trio of players already on the roster with Philadelphia ties, and many more will follow.  Having a recruiting base in Philly is essential Chambers' eyes, and playing in town regularly only helps the process.

Penn State's setback to La Salle was one of what will be many trips Nittany Lion basketball will make to Philadelphia during the tenure of Coach Chambers in Happy Valley.  And anyone in the building on Wednesday night would tell you, get tickets for next season's trip to Chambers' home turf to be a part of a great road atmosphere for Nittany Lion basketball.

"I love it. I can't wait to play back here next year - a lot of fun," Chambers said.


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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Head coach Patrick Chambers and sophomore guard D.J. Newbill address the media following Penn State's 82-57 setback to La Salle in The Palestra on Wednesday night.

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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Welcome to live in-game coverage of the Nittany Lion basketball team.

Take a look back at Penn State's 82-57 setback to La Salle in The Palestra on Wednesday night.




Starting Lineups:
Penn State - G - Marshall, G - Newbill, F - Travis, F - Taylor, F - Graham
La Salle - G - Dyren, G - Mills, G - Galloway, F - Wright, C - Zack

14:03 1st Half - La Salle 14, Penn State 13
Both teams are off to a red-hot start shooting the basketball in what has been an up-tempo opening 5:57 of basketball in The Palestra.  Ross Travis has been superb, scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting to open the game.  Travis is scoring from all over the floor, including a step-back jumper from 19 feet that set the score at 14-13 heading into the first media timeout.  The Explorers are 4-for-8 from beyond the arc in the early minutes.

11:49 1st Half - La Salle 20, Penn State 18
Penn State is 8-for-12 to start the game from the floor and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc.  The frenetic pace on both ends of the floor has led to a high-scoring first half.  The Nittany Lions would like to see a bit slower tempo on the defensive end of the floor, but the red-hot offense has equalized the quick-firing La Salle offense.  Tyreek Duran, La Salle's leading scorer, has 10 tallies already to lead all scorers.

7:59 1st Half - La Salle 25, Penn State 23
Both teams are still shooting north of 50 percent with under eight minutes to play in the first half.  Penn State needs a strong finish to the half on the defensive end of the floor.  The Nittany Lions are moving the ball well on offense, which is leading to good shots.  However, La Salle is finding easy looks on offense.

3:51 1st Half - La Salle 36, Penn State 28
Thanks to a trio of 3-pointers, La Salle took its biggest lead of the night at 10.  The Explorers tallied a 13-3 scoring run before a pair of Sasa Borovnjak free throws trimmed the Penn State deficit down to eight.  Nonetheless, La Salle's 3-point shooting has been the big key in the first half.  As a team, the Explorers are 8-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Halftime - La Salle 38, Penn State 34
A very entertaining first half drew to a close with two-straight baskets from Borovnjak and a big dive from Jermaine Marshall, which thwarted La Salle's last offensive possession.  Marshall played a superb half, finishing with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting.  As a team, the Lions shot 57 percent from the field (13-for-23).  As we mentioned earlier, the big key for La Salle was the perimeter shooting.  The Explorers made eight 3-pointers in the opening half (8-for-17).  Duren tallied 15 points to lead La Salle in scoring.  The Nittany Lions improved defensively late, holding the Explorers without a basket for more than four minutes late before a driving floater from Duren.  The Nittany Lions committed just six turnovers in a fast-paced half, which is a very good number for a team still learning the ropes of the point guard position.  Penn State should feel good about the first half, but the Lions need to guard the perimeter better to walk out of the gym with a victory later tonight.

15:33 2nd Half - La Salle 43, Penn State 40
Marshall picked up right where he left off to start the second half with a runner in the lane, but La Salle answered with its ninth 3-pointer of the evening and a basket from Jerrell Wright to put the Explorers up by seven (43-36).  The Nittany Lions answered with a step-back jumper from Travis, who has 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting.  Following a defensive stop, Newbill cut the lead to just three with a hard dribble drive into the lane.  The Philly native will be at the foul line looking to make it a two-point game after the media timeout.

11:49 2nd Half - La Salle 50, Penn State 43
The Nittany Lions got as close as two (43-41), but La Salle answered with four-straight tallies to make it a six-point game.  The margin is currently seven at the second media timeout of the half, despite Penn State still shooting 51 percent from the game.  The difference has been at the 3-point line, with 30 of La Salle's 50 points coming from beyond the arc.  Nevertheless, the Lions are within striking distance if they can get a couple stops on the defensive end of the floor.

7:52 2nd Half - La Salle 63, Penn State 46
Since it was 43-41 at the 15:33 mark, La Salle has mounted a furious charge to build its largest lead of the night.  Nine-straight points from Duren triggered the 20-5 scoring spurt.  Duren has been superb all night, leading all scorers with 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting and 4-for-7 beyond on the arc.  Penn State needs stops on defense to get back into the ballgame.

3:56 2nd Half - La Salle 70, Penn State 51
The Nittany Lions have cooled off on the offensive end of the floor in the second half.  Penn State is shooting 7-for-21 from the field this half.  We have talked about it all night, but the big difference in the game has been 3-point shooting.  La Salle has 39 points beyond the arc, compared to just nine from the Nittany Lions.

FINAL: La Salle 82, Penn State 57
The Nittany Lions started fast on the offensive end of the floor, but cooled off late in Wednesday's clash inside The Palestra.  Penn State shot 57 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed 38-34 at the break.  La Salle killed the Nittany Lions at the 3-point arc throughout the night.  The Explorers shot 16-for-29 from 3-point range for 48 tallies of their 82 total points.  It's tough to beat anyone who shoots north of 50 percent from beyond the arc on 28 attempts.  The Nittany Lions looked very good for much of the first half on offense, but the perimeter shooting was just too much to overcome.  Duren led all scorers with 31 points, including four 3-pointers.  Marshall led three Nittany Lions in double figures with 19 points.  Newbill and Travis each score 12 points in the setback.  Penn State will look to build on its strong first half on Saturday when it returns to the BJC to meet Army.


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Story By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions call the Bryce Jordan Center their 'home' court. But for most of the young men on the Penn State roster, the place that they call home is more than two, three or even four hours away from State College.

On Wednesday night, the Lions travel to Philadelphia to face the La Salle Explorers and enter into the hometown city of a few of their own.

Head coach Patrick Chambers grew up in historic city and played basketball at Philadelphia University from 1990 until 1994. He also spent a lot of time watching his brother, Paul, as a point-guard for Penn in the same venue that his team will be traveling to. They call it the Palestra.

"I've never coached in the Palestra as a head coach, only as an assistant so, there's going to be some major energy and butterflies in my body I'm sure," said Chambers. "It's a special place in my heart."

The building was given its Greek name because in the ancient civilization young men would compete in multiple events in a rectangular area, one that was attached to a gymnasium where spectators could watch, and it was called a Palestra. Chambers said that even though it doesn't look overly exciting, the history of the building and all of the talented basketball players that have played there makes it one of a kind.

"It actually looks like Rec Hall," said Chambers. "When you grow up, when you're a young kid and your dad and your brother bring you down to the games you want to play there and you want to be a part of that history. There's so much rich tradition down there - when it comes to college basketball it's just an amazing feeling."

Sophomore guard D.J. Newbill is equally anxious to play inside the nostalgic building on Wednesday night, but has another reason to be excited too. Newbill played high school basketball at Strawberry Mansion in the northeast region of the city.

"It's always good to go back and play in front of my hometown, a lot of my friends and family will be there," said Newbill. "Playing in the Palestra, that's one of the most famous venues in Philly so I'm just looking forward to a great experience."

Newbill said that he played a few summer league games inside the well-known building when he was a teenager, but never a big-time competition against a tough Big Five team.

Freshman guard Brandon Taylor is another Lion that has strong ties to the City of Brotherly Love. Taylor grew up in the northern parts of Philadelphia and played AAU ball for Team Philly.

Taylor said that his dad has been telling him stories about big games that have been played in the Palestra for years, but the freshman has only ever practiced inside the facility.

The rookie said that he's looking forward to seeing his friends and family in the stands supporting him. But he said that he's even more excited to showcase his style of basketball in the place where he learned it. It's that 'Philly Swagger'.

"It's just being tough, really," said Taylor. "You've got to go out there and be tough, play as hard as you can."

By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions improved to 4-1 at home and 4-3 overall on Saturday afternoon with a 58-47 win over Penn.

Coming off a setback to Boston College on Wednesday night, the blue and white regrouped and played what head coach Patrick Chambers called smart and gritty Penn State Basketball.

In the first half, the Lions held Penn to just 22 total points and did not allow a single second-chance basket. Penn State worked hard down low and out-rebounded the Quakers 18-9, 11 of which were defensive boards, in the first 20 minutes.

While Chambers said that the Lions were focusing on generating more scoring opportunities on opening drives during practice this week, he was pleasantly surprised with the outcome against Penn.

"For us to have a lead in the first half is huge," said Chambers. "For us to score 31 points - I felt like they played with some confidence."

Penn State had one of its best shooting halves this season in the opening period of its game on Saturday, hitting 8-of-17 for a 41.7 percent shooting clip. Freshman guard Brandon Taylor was nearly flawless when the ball was in his hands, hitting 5-of-7 from the floor including three beyond the arc in the first half.

Chambers played Taylor for a total of 31 minutes, which is nine minutes more than he has played in any game this season. But the head coach said that his rookie understands that for the Nittany Lions, he is anything but.

"He knows what his role is," said Chambers. "He needs to be an impact player for us. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to be a freshman."

On the day, the Lions shot a season-high 42.9 percent as a team. Jermaine Marshall led with 18 points, and D.J. Newbill followed with 13.

Newbill said that he and Marshall have become a one-two punch on the floor, and feel more confident in their scoring opportunities when they work side by side.

"I'm not a pure point guard and neither is Jermaine but when we kind of tag-team and work together we generate some offense," said Newbill. "It helps out a lot."

Chambers said that while he has not yet officially announced it, he plans on naming Marshall as a third captain for the season. The redshirt junior's hustle, drive and hard work in practice have made him a leader in his coach's mind.

"With Tim [Frazier] being out I have D.J., Jermaine and Nick [Colella] and their embracing the role. They want to be leaders. Jermaine has been wanting to be a captain and with me you always have to earn it. He's earning it."

The head coach said that his Nittany Lion team is, in fact, still a work in progress. But as his athletes go through a few season-opening growing pains and learn one another's tendencies on the court, he said that he is encouraged by their tenacity and positive attitudes.

"I use the term 'persistent intensity'," said Chambers. "That means every day. You can't have one day off."

"Leadership never takes a day off."