BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Battle's last-second bucket sends Lions to 64-63 win

March 5, 2009

Nate Bauer
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Editor

Penn State sophomore guard Talor Battle said he would win the game for his teammates and coaches.

Down by a point and holding the ball with 26 seconds to play, Battle tripped and coughed up the ball into the hands of Illinois guard Chester Frazier.

For the 13,091 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center, hope seemed slim, at best.

With David Jackson's subsequent foul, Battle was forced to retreat to his bench to make amends with the rest of his team.

Looking to head coach Ed DeChellis in the timeout, Battle promised that he would make it up and the team would win the game.

With just eight seconds on the clock, Illini forward Mike Davis went to the foul line and came up well short, sending the ball into Penn State senior forward Jamelle Cornley's hands, who quickly dished it to Battle.

Weaving his way up the floor, Battle took a high screen to his left, flashed past three Illini defenders and scooped the ball up to the rim. Slowly, Battle's shot made its way around the rim and finally through the net with just 0.3 seconds left to play.

Running past a delirious crowd, Battle made his way back to his head coach and hugged him.

"I told you so," Battle said cheerfully to DeChellis.

Knocking away the full court pass from center Mike Tisdale as time ran out, the deal was done.

In absolutely stunning fashion, the Lions knocked off No. 23-ranked Illinois in a must-win game and sent the Penn State student section storming onto the BJC hardwood in the process.

"Talor made a play and we win the game and sometimes that's what it's about, making shots, making a play, making a free throw at this time of the year," DeChellis said afterward. "It was a great basketball game. I thought Illinois played, really, really, really well. But, it was two teams that wanted to win and were fighting... fighting for our lives and we made the last play."

Trailing for most of the game, the Lions scored nine-straight to earn a thrilling win in the program's biggest game in recent memory.

The win marked Penn State's fourth win against a top 25 ranked team this season, the Lions' 21 wins are the most for the program since the 1995-96 season, and their 10 wins in the Big Ten are the most since 1995-96.

With the win, the Lions' quest for their first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2000-01 season remains a possibility and, according to Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis, should be a certainty.

"I thought there were two NCAA basketball teams out there tonight on national television," he said. "You can't draw it up any better. Two heavyweights just slugging it out and making plays. We made the last play to win the game and sometimes that's what it comes down to."

Frankly, it came down to much more than that.

Namely, an entire team effort highlighted by a fantastic 20-point performance for senior Stanley Pringle - celebrating his 22nd birthday - on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor and a 4-for-4 night from beyond the arc.

With 5:09 to play and down by 10 points, Cornley was forced out of the game in obvious pain from a shoulder injury.

On the other end of the floor, senior Danny Morrissey was fouled on a three-point shot, hitting all three and bringing the Lions back to within seven.

Yet, hope seemed lost again only 17 seconds later when sophomore forward Andrew Jones fouled out of the game.

Slowly, the Lions clawed their way back, trailing 63-57 after two Battle made free throws and the return of Cornley into the game with 3:41 to play.

Seemingly raising the spirits of the entire crowd, Cornley's return was followed two minutes later by a critical three-pointer from Pringle on the wing to get the Lions to within three, 63-60.

Two clutch David Jackson free throws and Battle's game-winning play later, and the Lions pulled out the win.

"I think it's important to win on national television," DeChellis said. "We have some kids here, recruits tonight and I think it's important to win on national TV for all those people who are sitting in a room next Sunday making a decision that they had an opportunity to see us play.

"Maybe they haven't seen us play much so that was an opportunity to watch us play, see what kind of team we have, see what kind of excitement we have, see what Penn State basketball is all about. I thought that was very important.

"We gave them a good show."

Notes:

- Penn State senior quarterback Daryll Clark came onto the floor before the game, took the mic and gave a rousing speech to the Bryce Jordan Center.

Not coincidentally, he was one of the first students to rush the floor following the big win.

Afterward, Battle made special note to thank Clark.

"We want to thank Daryll. He did a great job. That was amazing, that's one of the best quarterbacks in the country taking time out of his day to come be a hype man out there. So, we appreciate him doing that. That was great of him."

- Battle also wanted to make more of a mention of how thankful he was for the fan participation.

"The crowd was great. Can you put that in all of your articles? Thank you, Talor says. We just couldn't get over the hump all game. Credit Illinois. They made some big shots. Chester Frazier was hitting a lot of threes tonight. But our fans just kept us in there the whole way. They caused that free throw to miss because it wasn't even close at the end. Thanks to them that gave us the opportunity to win it and we did that and gave them something to cheer about."

- Cornley's injury status is unknown at this time. We'll work on finding out his status for Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Iowa.

- The team has to be back at the Bryce Jordan Center for a 9 a.m. breakfast then on a plane for Iowa at 10.

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