Penn State's Battle Cry: Lions Get Thrilling Win Over Illinois

To start off, I would like to say hello everyone, I'm back for a little after a long break.

Okay, now to business.  Just minutes ago, Penn State pulled off a huge home upset over Illinois.  Here's how it happened:

Illinois took an early 5-0 lead, but then Penn State got hot and came back to make it 8-5.  

For most of the half, Penn State suffered a drought, and Illinois extended their lead, but in the final minutes of the half, Penn State brought the lead down to four, and then to two just before half.

In the second half, Illinois got hot early and started making threes and jump hooks from everywhere on the court.  With about seven minutes remaining, Illinois was up 60-50.  

Now let me just say, at that point it should have been something like 56-52, but a bad offensive goal-tending call and a shot clock violation not called along with some poorly called fouls on Penn State gave Illinois many lucky breaks.

However, this resilient Penn State team, in the final minutes, led in scoring by Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle, and in rebounds by an injured Jamelle Cornley, came back in style.  

Pringle, being that its his 22nd birthday, had 20 points, and was hot from beyond the arc.  He made a few key three pointers down the stretch—the most important being the one that pulled the Nittany Lions to within three with about a minute left.

Penn State then managed two free throws on an over the back call, and were only trailing 63-62 with about 40 seconds left.  

After a missed Illinois shot, Penn State was moving the ball down the court with 20 seconds left.  However, Talor Battle slipped while dribbling and a scrum that followed resulted in a jump ball with Illinois possession with 9.5 seconds remaining.

Illinois went to the free throw line, and missed both shots.  

Talor Battle took the ball with seven seconds left, drove right down the court, and ran through three defenders and put up a tough layup while being hit that magically went in with 0.3 seconds remaining.  

The Lions then went and knocked the ball away to end the game, and pull off a 64-63 comeback with all odds, including the officiating, against them.

Penn State really let out their battle cry in this game, and yes, its a pun both in the title and in this sentence.  This win means a lot for Penn State.  This gives them a sweep of ranked Illinois, who is also third in the Big 10.  

They also have a win over ranked Purdue at home, and ranked Michigan State on the road.

These four quality wins will put them in the tournament, even if they lose to Iowa in their final game.  

However, if they beat Iowa, they could potentially move up to second place in the Big 10 standings, and may even be ranked.  

Regardless, with the Big 10 Tournament coming up, and if the Lions beat Iowa, they should get at least 22 or 23 wins, and be in the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State has now broken their record for most wins in a regular season, and also for the most home wins in a season.  

I would like to say congratulations to my Nittany Lions, on the win, the records, and virtually making it into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly a decade.