Claxton delivers many highlights on way to 16 points
State College, Pa., Nov. 10, 2005 – The Penn State basketball team continued to push the tempo and showed its athleticism as the Nittany Lions posted 71-58 victory over Edinboro in their final exhibition before their season opener Nov. 19 against Cornell in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Head Coach Ed DeChellis spoke of the Nittany Lions jitters in their first exhibition outing, an 89-43 win over Lock Haven, but few were evident Thursday night. All 14 Nittany Lions got in the action in the first half and nine scored as Penn State employed a press and pushed the ball up the floor for quick shots on its way to a 38-16 halftime advantage.
Sophomore forward Geary Claxton showed the many facets of his game as he posted 14 first half points and five rebounds on his way to a team-high 16 for the game. Claxton hammered home a pair of dunks in transition, drained a three, shot six-of-seven from the field, cleaned up on the offensive and defensive glass and showed the all-around game that made him a 2005 All-Big Ten Freshman Team pick, in just 12 minutes of first half action.
He carried the exciting play into the second half eliciting cheers from the crowd when he threw down an ally-oop from Ben Luber three minutes into the half to give the Lions a 46-20 lead and blocked a shot at the rim of former Nittany Lion Darren Tielsch, now in his second season at Edinboro. The assist was one of eight for Luber on the night as the junior played a strong floor game with four steals and just one turnover in 26 minutes.
A starting unit of guards Ben Luber and David Jackson and forwards Claxton, Travis Parker and Joonas Suotamo battled Edinboro to a 9-9 tie at the 15:50 mark before kicking into high gear with a 17-0 run that lasted nearly 10 minutes and staked Penn State to a 26-9 lead at the 6:02 mark. Penn State’s last points of the half came from walk-ons Clay Scovill and Keith Hardin as Scovill used a pump fake as the shot clock expired and hit a one footed three pointer and Hardin hit a short jumper.
Penn State pushed the lead to 26 twice in the second half as DeChellis tried different combinations and got a good look at his bench. The Nittany Lions held a 65-39 advantage with 7:22 to play and were up by 20 as late as the four-minute mark before the Scots closed the margin in the final minutes. Tielsch scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the final five minutes as Edinboro shot 58.6 percent and scored 42 points in the second half to close the lead.
Junior David Jackson continued to shoot the ball well posting 11 points on five-of-eight from the field and added four assists.
Sophomore Brandon Hassell was solid coming off the bench posting six points on three-of-four from the field, including a nice spin move dunk, and three rebounds in just 14 minutes. Freshman Milos Bogetic, a 6-10 forward, again led the team in rebounding with seven. Senior Travis Parker, seeing his first action of the year, posted six points and five rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes of action.
Penn State shot 46.3 percent for the game, including a hot 51.5 in the first half.
The Nittany Lions will open the season next Saturday in the Bryce Jordan Center against a Cornell team that nearly pulled off an upset of No. 16 Syracuse on Wednesday night in the Carrier Dome before falling 67-62. The opener is set for a 12:30 p.m. tipoff.