Friday, April 3, 2009
Penn State captures NIT Championship
The Penn State Nittany
Lions are the 2009 National
Invitational Tournament
Champions.
On Thursday April 2, the
Nittany Lions defeated the
Baylor Bears 69-63 for the NIT
Championship. The champi
onship victory was the first for
the Lions in school history.
"Give me everything you
have," said head coach Ed
DeChellis, according to the
Penn State Athletic website. "If
it's good enough, it's good
enough; if it's not, it's not. Just
leave it all on the floor."
Senior Jamelle Cornley
played tough underneath scor
ing 18 points for the game and
earned the tournament's most
valuable player. Cornley ended
his career as a champion.
Sophomore Talor Battle added
12 points for the Lions.
"You don't know what its
going to be like when you go
into it," said Cornley, according
to the Penn State Athletic web
site. "The last time I cut down
the nets was the state champi
onship my freshman year of
high school. To cut down some
more nets in my last game is
just an unbelievable feeling."
At halftime the Bears led 25-
29.
After Baylor coach Scott
Drew received a technical foul
the Lions surged to take a 50-
40 lead with 8:20 left in the sec
ond half.
According to the Penn State
Athletic website, head coach
Ed DeChellis said, "We have
tough kids. We're going to go
compete. That's been our
trademark all year. That play
typifies what our team has
been like all year."
The Bears made it a seven
point game with a tip in by the
Bear's leading scorer sopho
more Lace Darius Dunn with
4:34 remaining in the game.
Dunn finished the game with
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18 points.
The game was a physical
battle, which was proven when
senior Danny Morrissey left
the game with 2:45 remaining
after smashing his head
against the floor as he dove for
a loose ball.
With 1:36 left, the Lions lead
the Bears by nine after Battle
knocked down a deep two
point jumper.
The Bears wouldn't go quiet
ly, but the Lions secured the
victory by hitting important
free throws.
"Penn State had a great fol
lowing, a great crowd, and
they're the ones who hit big
shots and won the game," said
Baylor coach Scott Drew,
according to the Penn State
Athletic website. "As a coach
you never feel bad about that,
when a team plays great and
wins the game."
The game was played at
Madison Square Garden in
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By Chris Alphen
contributing writer
cja5055 ,,, psu.edu
New York City. Thirty-six
buses full of Penn State stu
dents dressed in white made
the four-hour trip to witness
the game.
The Lions ended the season
with a 27-11 record. The 27
wins is a record high of wins
for Penn State.
The Lions merely missed
making the NCAA Tournament
on Selection Sunday this year,
but entered the NIT as a num
ber two seed.
The road to the NIT
Championship game did not
come at ease. The Lions began
the tournament of 32 by
defeating George Mason in
overtime 77-73. Battle hit a
fade away shot in regulation to
force overtime and finished the
game with 24 points.
In the second round the
Lions played at State College
against Rhode Island and
defeated them for a second
time this season. The final
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score was 83-72.
The Lions then traveled to
Florida to beat the Florida
Gators 71-62. Cornley led both
teams with 23 points and 12
rebounds.
The semi-final game was
played last Tuesday night at
the Madison Square Garden
where they faced the Fighting
Irish of Notre Dame. Battle led
the team with 17 points.
Andrew Jones contributed a
career high, 16 points, and
added 15 rebounds.
Sixteen buses made the trip
to New York from State
College for the semi-final
game. The bus carried students
along with football head coach
Joe Paterno.
It was only the second time
in school history Penn State
had reached the NIT
Championship game. The first
time resulted in a loss to
Minnesota in 1998.
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Senior Jamelle Cornley celebrates
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