Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Basketball Edges Penn State in Overtime
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
January 20, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - All-America candidate Evan Eschmeyer scored 19 points and had a career-high 21 rebounds and Julian Bonner hit a running jumper with 0.6 seconds left in overtime as Northwestern defeated Penn State, 62-60. The Wildcats improve to 10-5, 3-3 Big Ten. Penn State falls to 9-7, 1-5 Big Ten.
Northwestern dominated throughout the first half, giving up a one-point lead only once before halftime and holding Penn States Calvin Booth to only two points in the half. The Cats biggest lead in the game was 29-20 with 2:24 left in the first.
Penn State threatened late in the second half,capitalizing on three consecutive NU turnovers with junior guard Titus Ivory scoring a layup and a trey to put the Nittany Lions ahead 45-40. Penn State held on to its lead until, with 2:11 remaining, freshman guard David Newman hit a trey to tie the game at 51. Penn States Cline-Heard hit a layup to put Penn State ahead again until Steve Lepore hit a jump shot with :08 remaining to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 53.
Northwestern was dominant in overtime, scoring first on an Eschmeyer jump shot. Penn State found itself in foul trouble and freethrows by Eschmeyer and Newman put the Cats up 60-53 with 1:51 remaining. Penn State sophomore forward Gyasi Cline-Heards dunk with :06 left in overtime tied the game again, but Julian Bonners jump shot with :00.6 remaining sealed the victory for the Cats.
Eschmeyers 21 rebounds ties him for 9th place in NU history for single-game rebounding. Freshman guard David Newman added 15 points for the Wildcats. Penn States Ivory scored 18 points and senior guard Dan Earl scored 17.
The victory matches NUs win total from last season. It also is the first time since the 1982-83 season that the Wildcats have started a season 10-5 overall and the first time since 1967-68 that NU is 3-3 in the conference.
The Wildcats next host Texas Pan-American at 7 p.m. Saturday night in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Penn State at Northwestern
January 20, 1999
Postgame Quotes
Kevin O'Neill- Northwestern Head Coach
"I'm really proud of our effort, even when we were down late. They (the Wildcats) played like winners down the stretch. It's a big win for us. This gets us to 3-3 in the conference and gives us a home win."
"It's probably the best job we've done on both the offensive and defensive boards all year. It's good to see some guys stepping up other than Eschmeyer. We wanted Steve (Lepore) to make a play at the end if we couldn't go to Esch."
Jerry Dunn- Penn State Head Coach
"I thought they (NU) did a good job with their post defense."
On the Calvin Booth-Evan Eschmeyer matchup in the middle: "I thought it was a hard-fought battle. Both guys were ready to play."
On Titus Ivory: "He's a courageous player. He makes tough shots and plays good defense. I can't say enough about what he's giving us on the floor."
