Penn falls in Shootout

Nittany Lions outbomb M. Hoops in A.C., 88-61 There was no confusing Penn and Penn State on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions -- propelled by the unconscious shooting of guard Pete Lisicky -- routed the Quakers, 88-61, in the Atlantic City Shootout. The story of the game was the outside shooting of Lisicky, who drained nine of 10 three-pointers en route to a career-high 35 points. Lisicky had 24 of his points in the first half alone, leading Penn State (5-0) to a commanding 46-27 halftime lead. "Obviously, we didn't do a very good job defending Lisicky, especially in the first half," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I have to give him a great deal of credit. He got some great looks and converted. He only missed two shots all day." Lisicky's hot touch proved especially fatal for Penn (1-3) because the Quakers were plagued by shooting problems of their own in the first half -- misfiring on all all six three-point attempts and hitting only three of nine from the charity stripe. Penn's sole offensive weapons, Bowman (19 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds) and Krug (21 points), got into first-half foul trouble. Bowman and Krug were called for their second personal foul within a minute of each other, and Dunphy benched them together. With the top two scorers on the bench, an 11-point deficit for the Quakers quickly ballooned to a 17-point hole. Even though Dunphy quickly shuffled Krug and Bowman back in, the damage was already done. The only other player who made a significant contribution was guard Jamie Lyren, who recorded 10 points and, more importantly, committed no turnovers running the offense. Dunphy struggled to get find any help off the bench. Guard Donald Moxley, one of Penn's few outside threats, struggled at only one-of-eight from the floor. Freshman swingman Frankie Brown, in his second career start, failed to register a point. Senior center Bill Guthrie, moving into the starting lineup in favor of Nat Graham, misfired on three early three-point attempts and finished with only two points. "We're getting real solid play by Jamie Lyren," Dunphy said. "We need some other guys to step up. Don [Moxley] shot the ball poorly tonight, as he has of late. We also need people like Bill Guthrie and Cedric Laster to step up. It's difficult to find our way against good teams." And things did not get any better at the end of the first half as Dan Earl, the Nittany Lions' star point guard, outhustled the Quakers for a long offensive rebound and drained a trifecta from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded. Dunphy called that sequence "just a ridiculous play by us." "Against a good team, which this is, you can't make a lot of mistakes," he continued. However, down 19 as the second half opened, the Quakers threatened to pull off a remarkable comeback before falling apart again. Penn jumped out of the gates after intermission, taking advantage of a flat Penn State squad. A Jamie Lyren free throw cut the lead to nine with 11 minutes, 12 seconds to go. But the Nittany Lions regrouped and, largely on the efforts of 6-11 James Booth, pulled away at the end. A wiry freshman, Booth scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, including a slam dunk that left the backboard shaking. "Calvin Booth put on a few extra pounds over the summer," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "There's a great deal of potential ahead for him." The Quakers hope, that despite this game and their shaky start, the same holds true for them. * Adding injury to insult, Bowman appeared to injure his knee late in in the second half and went to the bench with 3 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the game. Dunphy speculated that it might be a sprain, but said he would not be sure for a few days. Since Penn's next game is not until December 29, it is unlikely Bowman miss any games.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.