Great Games in Penn History: Jan. 25, 1992

HERSHEY, Pa. -- The scoreboard read: Penn 70, Penn State 69. The clock displayed nothing but zeros. Nittany Lions forward DeRon Hayes had just missed a 25-foot desperation heave at the buzzer, and a controversial foul called on Penn forward Shawn Trice seemed to have been waved off by one of the officials. The Quakers, apparently having pulled off a huge upset, briefly celebrated at center court before triumphantly trotting off to the locker room. And with good reason. They thought they had just defeated a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last year. Then the players got the news from their coach, Fran Dunphy. And the news was not good. The official had been waving his hands merely to indicate the foul was not a shooting foul, and thus Hayes would get two foul shots instead of three. Needless to say, the jubilant Penn squad was not quite prepared for this stunning turn of events. "I didn't have a stitch of clothing on. I was running around nude in the locker room," said senior point guard Paul Chambers, who did not want to believe what was happening. "I said, 'Coach, that's not funny. Don't say that.' " But Dunphy wasn't joking. So after Hayes gave Penn a new lease on life, hitting only one of two foul shots to send the game into overtime, the Quakers had to continue playing a game they thought they had already won. "We had to beat them all over again," Trice said. And that they did. Penn never trailed in the extra period, as the team refused to let the emotional devastation and hostile Hershey Park Arena crowd of 3,510 get in its way. When the game finally ended this time for real with Penn on top, 87-86, the Quakers had, in their minds, upset Penn State for the second time in less than an hour. Only this time it counted. "We were devastated, but Coach said, 'That's all right, we'll beat them twice,' " Chambers said. "It shows the character of this team." The emotional rollercoaster of a game also showed the talent of this team. The Quakers (6-6) did not pull off the upset because they happened to catch Penn State having an off night. The Nittany Lions shot 53 percent from the field and hit seven of 14 from three-point land. Only some excellent performances from the Penn frontcourt enabled the Quakers to keep up with the Lions' hot outside shooting. Penn State (12-6) hit all four of its three-point shots in the first half, including three by senior point guard Freddie Brown, who had 11 points and four assists by intermission. Penn countered with the inside play of the freshman Trice (career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting) and senior forward Vince Curran (a perfect 7 for 7 from the field). "I thought our inside game did a really good job scoring," Dunphy said. "I thought Trice had a great game." Trice was particularly impressive late in the first half. With Penn State up 34-29 and threatening to open a sizeable gap, Trice re-entered the game and immediately turned things around, scoring six straight points on two free throws, a layup off a fast break, and a dunk after stealing the ball at midcourt. The first half ended with Penn down only by two, 41-39. From there the game was essentially a see-saw battle, with nine lead changes in the second half alone. But there was one critical juncture early in the second half when Penn started to unravel at the seams. After committing a measly two turnovers in the first 20 minutes, the Quakers, particularly freshman guard Jerome Allen, got sloppy. The Quakers coughed up the ball six times in under five minutes, with Allen making three bad passes in four possessions. The result -- Penn State took a 54-49 lead, Penn took a timeout and Allen took a seat on the bench. And Trice took over again, scoring six of the Quakers' next 10 points as Penn recaptured the lead at 59-58 with six-and-a-half minutes left. The stage was set for the wild end of regulation, when Trice apparently stood still with his hands in the air, yet was still called for the foul. "I thought Shawn hit [Hayes] a little with his body, but it didn't appear as though he crashed into him," Dunphy argued. "I was surprised they made the call -- when he draws blood, that's the time you make that call." But the Quakers were determined not to lose a game they believed they should have already won. Allen opened up the overtime period with a clutch trey to put Penn up, 73-70, and the Quakers clung to that lead for dear life. The Lions were able to tie the score at 75, but were never able to pull ahead, as Penn hit 10 of its final 11 free throws to seal the Quakers' fourth straight win and second major upset in a week. "[Once it came down to free throws,] it was in our hands," said Chambers, who himself hit six of six in the final 40 seconds. "It was in my hands. It was not in the refs' or anyone else's. We knew we'd get the job done. "Penn State played well, but we played better." And in the end, try as they might, not even the refs could prevent that fact from translating into a victory.