Basketball: Texas A&M Holds Off Penn State

For the second game in a row, Penn State managed to fall behind early, only to rally late and make a blow out a tight game. Down by as much as 26 at home against Clemson earlier in the week, the Nittany Lions surged in the second half and only lost the game by 8, 96-88. The same thing happened on Saturday afternoon in College Station. The Lions trailed the Aggies by a large margin only to eventually lose by five, 60-55. It was Penn State's first road game of the season.

Perhaps the Lions could have pulled this one out if scoring ace Geary Claxton hadn't found himself in early foul trouble. However, Claxton bounced back in the second half and led Penn State with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Claxton is Penn State's go-to playmaker and when he is on the bench, Penn State isn't playing its best basketball. The emergence of Jamelle Cornley has helped take some of the weight off of Claxton.

Ben Luber has stepped up to some degree as the point man, contributed six assists. Claxton and Cornley have emerged as the go-to scoring threats. However, they need Luber and David Jackson to consistently get them the basketball. I thought Jackson was going to end up being at the point thsi season but Luber has stepped into that role. Jackson appears to be settling in as two guard.

Travis Parker, the only senior on the team, played well against the Aggies, contributing ten points.

Penn State's next game is on December 7th against Missouri-Kansas City. The Kangaroos play in the Mid-Continent Conference.