College Sports

penn state basketball

March 6, 2009

Battle’s final-second basket gives PSU the win

By Dave Konopki dkonopki@timesleader.com
Assistant Sports Editor

STATE COLLEGE – If the impassioned speech by Darryl Clark or the gutsy nationally televised effort didn’t say it, Talor Battle’s basket certainly did.

The Penn State men’s basketball team belongs in the NCAA tournament.

The sophomore Battle made the biggest shot of his collegiate career, a layup with .3 seconds remaining to lift Penn State to an improbable 64-63 win against No. 23-ranked Illinois in front of white-wearing frenzied fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Following a missed free throw by Illinois’ Mike Davis, Battle went baseline-to-baseline in the final seconds and the ball hung precariously on the rim for what seemed like an eternity. The win sparked a wild postgame celebration as the floor was flooded with Penn State students. The crowd of 13,091 included a massive student section that filled more than half the lower section of the arena.

Fighting for its postseason life, Penn State found another way to win a close game. The Nittany Lions are now 10-3 in games decided by five points or less. The win raised Penn State’s overall record to 21-9 and its Big Ten mark to 10-7. The Lions, who have four wins against ranked opponents this season, ends their regular season Saturday in Iowa.

Trailing by 10 points with less than five minutes remaining, the Lions put together what seemed to be one last gasp effort to win the game, but most all impress the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Senior Stanley Pringle, who played brilliantly, nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game to make it 63-60 and David Jackson added a pair of free throws to pull Penn State within 63-62 with 50 seconds remaining.

Following an Illinois miss – and with the crowd about to blow the lid off the BJC roof – the Lions had an opportunity to take the lead, but Battle turned the ball over and Penn State was forced to foul with nine seconds remaining. A few seconds, and one missed free throw later, Battle got his chance for redemption.

Pringle finished with 20 points, his second-highest total in Big Ten play this season and the most in his last 15 games. Battle added 15 points.

Clark, the Penn State quarterback who led the Nittany Lions to a berth in the Rose Bowl earlier this year, gave an inspired speech to the crowd just minutes before the game.

For a while in the first half, it appeared as though the only white that would be left in the building was a white flag of surrender.

The Lions trailed by 10 points three times in the first half, including a 27-17 deficit on a basket by 7-foot-1 Illinois center Mike Tisdale with seven minutes remaining.

That’s when the Lions began to claw back.

Playing in his final BJC game, PSU senior guard Danny Morrissey scored five consecutive points as part of a 10-2 run. Stanley Pringle nailed a three-pointer and Talor Battle sent the crowd into a frenzy to cut the deficit to 31-29 with 2:37 left in the first half.

Almost three weeks after the team’s played in the sixth-lowest scoring Division I game in the shot clock era – a 38-33 Penn State win – the teams almost matched that point total in the first half as Illinois held a 34-32 halftime lead.

Penn State tied the game at 34-34 on a Cornley basket in the opening seconds of the second half, but could never regain the lead. Battle pulled the Lions within two, 44-42, on a jumper with 13:12 remaining and his basket followed a Pringle three-pointer to make it 49-47 with 8:35 remaining.

But like it had done all game, the Illini continued to make big shots.

Tisdale connected on a soft one-handed jumper and Davis added a slam dunk to quickly put the lead back up to 53-47. Pringle responded with another three-pointer to make it 53-50, but Tisdale made a pair of baskets and Demetri McCamey hit a three-point to give Illinois a 60-50 lead with five minutes remaining.

Notes: Jeffrey Jordan, son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, played briefly in the first half for Illinois. He did not attempt a shot. The 6-1 sophomore guard averages one point per game in limited action…Pringle celebrated his 21st birthday Thursday.

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