Blue White Illustrated

M idway through the second half, Penn State was down by six points to a Louisiana-Monroe team that hadn't beaten an opponent from a Power Five conference since 2007. The Nittany Lions simply didn't have it. They were playing their fourth game in eight days and their second Rec Hall game in three days, and the novelty of re- visiting the program's former home court wasn't enough to hide their fatigue. "Probably not the best week to schedule four games," head coach Patrick Chambers deadpanned, lamenting the convergence of a busy game slate with end-of-semester academic demands. In their 6rst Return to Rec game two days earlier, the Nittany Lions had downed Canisius, 81-67, getting 43 points from their top three forwards, including 18 from senior Brandon Taylor, to pull away from the Golden Gri9ns. But their game against Louisiana-Mon- roe was a slog. Shooting a dreadful 32.7 percent from the 7oor and only 15 percent from 3-point range, the Nittany Lions weren't in sync on the o8ensive end. They knew they would have to rely on defense, intensity and e8ort to make up for the dwindling reserves in the tank. So they did. In front of a reported 4,824 fans in the venerable gym, the Nittany Lions rallied for a 54-50 win against the Warhawks. Taylor again led the way, 6nishing with 16 points and seven rebounds to give Penn State a li: heading into a much-needed six-day break in the schedule. "I felt it as soon as the buzzer went o8. I felt like I was just done. I was shot," Taylor said. "I'm just happy that we 6n- ished o8 those four games and we went 3-1. We always want to go 4-0, but I'll take 3-1, especially with a win like that. "It's a great feeling to pull games out like that. Coach preaches every day [about] defending and rebounding, and when shots aren't falling, what do you do? You toughen up on defense and you do the little things. That's what we did today." Although the loss dropped ULM to 4-4 on the season, the Warhawks showed no hesitation in challenging the Nittany Lions (7-3). In fact, with guard Shep Garner rel- egated to the bench due to early foul trouble and Penn State unable to get any- thing going on the o8ensive end, the vis- itors held an advantage until the 6nal minute of the 6rst half. They regained the lead to open the second half, and held it until there were just over eight minutes remaining. Just moments a:er Garner scored his 6rst points of the a:ernoon to cut the Li- ons' de6cit to 37-35, a ULM turnover put the ball in Josh Reaves' hands on the wing, and he found a streaking Jordan Dickerson for the ally oop. The play energized a rest- less crowd, and the two teams traded punches until another acrobatic move by Garner resulted in a three-point play and, at last, a two-point Penn State advantage with 5 minutes, 25 seconds to play. Still, the Warhawks weren't ready to re- lent completely. They kept Penn State within reach, and a series of missed free throws gave them one 6nal opportunity down the stretch. Scrambling to complete a 3-pointer with the clock ticking down, Jamaal Samuel tried to lo: a shot over Reaves, but the freshman guard met the ball at the height of Samuels' release, sending it seven rows deep into the stands. The Penn State student section, seated directly behind the play, roared its ap- proval. "Honestly, I just wanted to get there and just contest the jump shot. I was for- tunate enough to get a hand on it," Reaves said. "My reaction was pretty much due to being in front of the crowd and just seeing how excited they were. Then I turn around and just see my teammates coming toward me, all excited that it just happened and that it kind of sealed the game for us. I was just really excited." The hard-fought victory was one that Chambers wouldn't take for granted in its a:ermath. "We really buckled down on defense. We got great stops when we needed to get stops. Although we gave up o8ensive rebounds again [18], I was really proud of the way we contested and competed, be- cause sometimes when you have a young team and you miss shots, you're not going to play defense, you're not going to do anything, and they just gutted it out. "I believe that's a gutsy, gutsy win for us, [the kind of game] that typically we didn't win in the past." ■ Busy stretch tests Lions' stamina RETURN TO REC Garner drives for a layup against Cani- sius. The sopho- more guard fin- ished with 11 points in Penn State's 81-67 victory over the Golden Griffins. Photo by Cameron Hart

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