“If this is how you get the jitters out, it’s a pretty good way to do it.
“In an 89-43 win vs. Lock Haven University last night, the Penn State men’s basketball team did not play perfectly, but started to get used to the atmosphere associated with a Division I basketball program.
“The game was a tale of two halves for the Nittany Lions, due in part to overcoming the anxiety Penn State men’s basketball coach Ed DeChellis said the team had in the first half.
” ‘I think the most important thing was that we were a very, very nervous bunch,’ DeChellis said. ‘That was very important for us to get out there and play in front of people.’
“They had to do it without the veteran presence of senior forward and captain Travis Parker, who did not play because he missed a meeting with DeChellis.
“The nervousness associated with rotating in a team of young players — eight are freshmen or sophomores — initially effected the Lions’ defense. DeChellis said his defense wasn’t very good, but that it was a result of players tiring from the anxiety as well as not getting sucked out by Lock Haven’s offense.
“‘It was probably lackadaisical on our end, but we didn’t want them coming out, we wanted them in the passing lane and protecting the basket,’ DeChellis said. …”