Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sports Info: Nittany Lion Basketball Team Posts Pair Of Wins In Opening Games Of Canadian Exhibition Tour
Two-time team MVP Jamelle Cornley leads the wayToronto, Canada, Aug. 30, 2008 – The Penn State men’s basketball team got an early jump on the 2008-09 season Saturday as they posted a pair of wins over Canadian colleges to begin a four-game three day exhibition tour of Canada over Labor Day weekend.
Penn State took on The University of Waterloo and Sheridan College on Saturday at Sheridan’s Davis campus just 40 minutes outside of Toronto. The Nittany Lions downed Waterloo 83-52 in the opener and then dropped host Sheridan 83-65 in the nightcap. Senior forward
Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) led the team in scoring in both games posting 13 and 17 points while fellow senior
Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) posted 11 in both.
Despite a tough shooting performance in the opener, Penn State used its pressure defense and advantage in speed and quickness to pull away from a game Waterloo team in the second half and post a 31-point victory.
Cornley led Penn State in scoring with 13 points while
Pringle had 11 and several steals and nice assists. All 14 Nittany Lions that made the trip, sophomore transfer Andrew Ott is not yet eligible to travel or play under NCAA rules, scored in the game.
Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) added nine points, despite a 1-of-6 effort from three, and
David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) and
Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) both added eight apiece.
Penn State held a 33-21 lead at the half, but Waterloo came out firing in the early minutes of the third quarter and Dan White hit three-straight threes to cut the margin to 39-33. White’s nine points would lead Waterloo. Meanwhile, sophomore
Drew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up his fourth foul just seconds into the period and had to go to the bench limiting Penn State’s options in the paint.
The Nittany Lions simply turned up the full-court pressure defense and started causing turnovers to go on an 11-1 run fueled by the defense. Pringle led the charge reeking havoc with his quick hands and feet. His three and a lay-up from Cornley gave Penn State a 56-36 edge and snuffed any hopes Waterloo had of a victory. A Pringle feed to freshman
Billy Oliver (Chatham, N.J) and back-to-back buckets from fellow freshmen
Cammeron Woodyard (Westminster, Md.) and
Chris Babb (Arlington, Texas) gave Penn State a 62-40 lead.
Penn State held and easy cushion over 20 the rest of the way playing its bench most of the fourth quarter.
After a stop at a local mall for food and some rest, Penn State returned to Sheridan to face the hosting Bruins, the defending Ontario College Athletics Association champions.
Penn State’s first five of Battle, Cornley, Pringle, Morrissey and Jackson showed crisp passing and ball movement to start the game and Penn State quickly jumped out to a 20-point lead. A pair of Morrissey threes, eight-straight points from Cornley and a pair of Battle threes staked the Lions to a 30-7 lead. Penn State went to its bench early and Sheridan used numerous free throws and a bit of disjointed Nittany Lion play to climb back to within 11, 42-31. Penn State took a 44-31 lead to the half after a nice feed from Pringle to Oliver for a bucket to close the first 20.
Returning to its starting five to start the second half, Penn State once again quickly increased the lead on Sheridan. Penn State went up 56-39 on a pass from Battle to Cornley for a lay-up and a Pringle hit a three to make it 59-39 with 14:55 to play.
A Cammeron Woodyard three gave Penn State a 67-40 with 12:20 left and the Lions extended to their largest lead, 71-42, after a pair of Woodyard free throws. Sheridan got the lead back around 20 for most of the rest of the game as Penn State substituted liberally. Shane Cox led Sheridan with 18 points on four threes.
The Nittany Lions return to action tomorrow as they take on the Ryerson University Rams at 7:00 p.m. in Toronto. The Rams finished with a 7-15 record in the East Division of the OUA last season.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
These tidbits and more:"... Players and staff got their fill of a spread of eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, oatmeal, a table full of fruit and cereals and breakfast rolls. With the breaking news of the Republican vice presidential pick yesterday, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the Toronto Globe and Mail has several stories on the selection. Just for informational purposes most take ..."
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Dinner set for Sept. 30 in Camp Hill
Aug. 25, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The head coaches of the Penn State's men's and women's programs will headline the Central PA Basketball Preview dinner taking place on Tuesday, September 30 at the West Shore Country Club in Camp Hill, Pa.
Men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis, sophomore point guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and other selected Nittany Lions, along with women's basketball coach Coquese Washington and Lady Lions Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) are scheduled to attend and speak at the dinner.
The event will be held at the West Shore Country Club in Camp Hill. The reception is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 6:15 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Nittany Lion Club.
Reservations are required and tickets are $30.00. Reservation and reserved table assignments are on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone interested in tickets for the event should contact Jim Smeltzer at (717) 761-0211. The registration form is also available at www.nittanylionclub.com.
DeChellis, in his sixth season at the helm, leads a squad that is coming off its most conference wins (7) and best Big Ten finish (7th) since 2001. Battle and two-time All-Big Ten honoree Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) headline the list of returnees for the Nittany Lions. Battle averaged 10.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season and led the Lions in assists and steals. Cornley accounted for 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season to earn third-team All-Big Ten honors despite missing six games due to injury.
Washington is starting her second season as head coach of the Lady Lions. During her first season, Penn State defeated nationally ranked Duke and Pittsburgh. Washington was selected the "Rising Star" for 2008 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Lady Lions return four starters and 10 letterwinners from a year ago, including third team All-Big Ten selection O'Rourke. The senior point guard led the Big Ten in assists for the second time in her career and finished 51st nationally with a 4.7 per game mark. She was also 39th in the NCAA in free throw percentage (.838). Grant, a junior guard, garnered All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades for the second time in her career after leading the team and finishing ninth in the conference in scoring (13.8).
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"Since the Big Ten Network is coming to the Philadelphia area (including South Jersey) via Comcast I thought I'd provide a press release from our good friends over at Comcast that includes some of the features that will accompany BTN's launch here on Friday. For those with Comcast's Digital Classic service BTN will be on Channel 257. Penn State's [football] opener hosting Coastal Carolina on Aug. 30 at noon is on BTN."
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
BY JOHN S. NICHOLS
John S. Nichols is a professor of communications at Penn State University and a member of the steering committee of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics."Intercollegiate athletics are seriously undermining the core academic mission of many universities, and the current rash of off-field misbehavior by athletes is just one indication.
"As a longtime Penn State faculty member and an activist in a national movement for athletics reform, I am keenly aware of and concerned about the problems faced by educational institutions competing in big-time sports -- particularly my own university.
But while media attention to this issue is certainly needed, the harshly critical report about the Penn State football program that aired last Sunday on ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' painted a misleading and unfair picture. ..."
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Saturday, August 02, 2008
"... Falk points to the TV across from his desk and the item sitting above it. 'That's the bad-call brick,' he said. 'It's foam rubber. I've been known to throw it once in a while.'
"As the Big Ten's associate commissioner for officiating programs and the primary supervisor for men's basketball officials, Falk spends most of the winter looking out for bad calls. He oversees every element of men's basketball officiating, from hiring officials to scheduling to payroll to evaluations to rules interpretations to arena security/atmosphere...."
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"Talor Battle was discussing the shooting ability of Penn State’s newest gunner, freshman guard Chris Babb, when something at the other end of the floor interrupted him in mid-sentence: Chris Babb, drilling a 3-pointer.
“Yeah, he’s been hitting the jump shot,” Battle said.
"Their exhibition trip to Canada four weeks away, the Nittany Lions are spending their afternoons playing full-court, intrasquad pickup games, which are designed as much to help the freshmen — Babb, guard Cammeron Woodyard and forward Billy Oliver — adjust as they are about conditioning..."
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Friday, August 01, 2008
From the Collegian:
"Five days a week, Geary Claxton steps out of the car after an 11-mile drive and walks through the doors of Jim Ronai's Competitive Edge in nearby Shelton, Conn.
"He will stretch for 20 minutes, prepping his muscles for the two to three hour workout that will follow.
"Claxton will grasp the barbell and bust out Olympic lifts as perspiration soaks his shirt. Then, he'll drop to the ground and bolster his upper body strength by doing push-ups.
"Next, it's time to really test out the reconstructed knee..."
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