Sports
Lions battle Top-10 team;
short
Thursday, January 30, 1992
come up
In the Wizard of Oz, the
Tinman, looking for his heart,
walked miles, look on a witch,
and stood up to flying monkeys..
He had it easy! The Lions (9-
8) of Fred Paulsen had to show
the strength of their pumpers
against a Top-10 team, Buffalo
Slate College.
The #9 ranked Bcngals entered
Eric Hall with just two defeats on
the season (now 13-2) and a line
up loaded with elite college
talent. The Buff Stale roster was
dotted with Division 1 transfers
and solid role players. The Lions
needed to be on.
Unlike last season (Buff State,
64-56) when Paulsen chose to
pull the ball out against the
Bcngals, slow the pace down, and
frustrate the talented team from
Buffalo, the second-year Behrend
boss looked the visitors in the
eye and said, "Let's sec what you
have."
The best crowd of the year
piled in and had their presence felt
early as the Lions jumped out to
lour leads that topped fourteen
points in the opening half. The
Lions had solid ball movement,
hit their shots and hail solid
contributions from a host of
players to settle for a 42-36
halftime advantage.
Lady Lions set record;
enter Mid-Atlantic
Region at #3
by Paul Benim
The Collegian
The 1991-92 women's
basketball team sets the first of
what may be many records this
season with their 14th win.
The record-setter came
Thursday night in Erie Hall as
the Lions smashed Fredonia
State 79-39.
The Lions moved to 14-2
with the win. Nine games
remain on the schedule. They
entered the week as the #3 team
in the Mid-Atlantic Region of
the NCAA, the first such
ranking in the women's
basketball history.
Against Fredonia, the Lions
seemed to win the ball game in
the first three minutes, if that's
possible. The full court pressure
defense and some sharp shooting
by the Lady Lions jump started
Penn State-Behrend to a 10-0
start. Although Fredonia falls to
6-6, they are a much tougher
team than Thursday's game
indicated.
"Our players were obviously
focused and prepared for
Fredonia," Coach Banker said.
"Our defensive pressure forced
the tempo and allowed us to get
out and run a bit. Fredonia is a
solid team, we just jumped on
them early and they never
recovered."
Jencphcr Banker's club
continued on a torrid shooting
streak hitting nine of their first
twelve shots and shot 65 percent
in the first half.
Kim Boyd and Krista
Byron Thorne, obviously
pumped to play, hit for eight in
the first twenty minutes to lead
PSB, but a handful of others were
not far behind. Don Plylcr also
collected eight, six of which
came on two long balls.
John Hawthorne, playing his
best ball of the year, added seven,
Stephan Resprcss clicked for
seven as well from his power
forward spot. Post man Rich
Buzalka, an Academic All -
American candidate, added six,
and Tim Cook four.
"With Rick Clark limited to a
lew minutes (concussion vs
Houghton), we needed some
people to step up and give us
confidence,” Paulsen said.
"Hawthorne and Cook especially
came through early. Their
minutes have been limited in
other games, but they were there
for us tonight."
On the other side of the coin,
Buffalo State kept calling the
number of Nathaniel Gainey and
what a call it was. The 6'l"
senior guard exploded for 21 first
half points to keep the Bcngals
within breathing distance. No
other player had more than six at
intermission.
A Rich Buzalka jumper from
the paint gave PSB a 44-36 lead
Hcrshncr had the hot hand early
for Behrend as the team
expanded its lead to 22-5. Point
guard Wendy Ebingcr knocked
down a jumper from the lop of
the key, and a Karen Strait
rebound and score pushed the
half-time lead to 47-19.
Center Anne Bonner lead the
squad at the half with seven
rebounds and six points,
Hcrshncr added six, and Boyd
tossed in 14.
The defense continued to turn
the screws in the second half
limiting the Blue Devils to only
20 points in the final twenty
minutes and forcing 28 turn
overs by Fredonia. In addition,
the Lions shot a solid 48
percent from the floor whereas
Fredonia State shot a meager 29
percent.
Boyd led with 19 points,
three steals and assists. Forward
Heather Shearer dropped in ten
and played superb second half
defense. Michelle Grover added
eight off the bench. On the
season the Lion bench
contributes 28 points per game,
an incredible figure when you
consider that the Lions average
67 points per game.
Bcislcr, recovering from a
pre-season knee injury,
contributed seven points and 2
boards in her first amount of
substantial minutes since her
injury.
Darcic Bradley handed in a
solid performance distributing
the ball by dishing out a team
high six assists.
just in to the second stanza when
thunder hit. The Bcngals went off
on a 23-4 run over the next 9:34,
highlighted by Gainey (15 points
in the run) and offensive boards.
Alter the smoke had cleared,
Buffalo Slate had a 59-48 lead
with ten minutes to play.
The Lions battled back and
fail the lead down to five with
minutes left. A missed shot in
the lane, that would have cut the
lead to three, spelled trouble and
the Bcngals banged in their foul
shots to win, 75-68.
"Buffalo State came in ranked
ninth in the country," Paulsen
concluded after the contest. "They
showed why. They have different
scorers showing up every night,
they arc big on the boards, they
tire simply a very talented team."
Thorne finished with 15
points to lead the Lions. Plylcr
hit for 11 and dished out six
assists. Resprcss added 11 as well
on five x eight shooting. Buzalka
clicked for 10 and grabbed a team
high eight boards. Hawthorne's
nine points and Cook's season
high of eight were big
contributions as well.
Next up for the Lions is a
Thursday trip to St. John Fisher,
the #2O ranked team in the
nation
PANAAA CITY BEACH,
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stretches for
defender.
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Sophomore forward Rob Hunt
rebound beside a Buffalo State
BREAK '92
Page 11
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