Wilkes-barre

Anna Lowery 
Feb. 3, 1994 
Anna M. Lowery, Of The Little Flower Manor, Wilkes-barre, Died Thursday In The 
Manor.

Saturday, February 05, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 15C QUICK WORDS: PUTTING UP A GOOD
FIGHT 





SCRANTON -- Even after the final score had turned against them, after their
second conference loss in three days, the Penn State-Hazleton Lions wouldn't
stop fighting back. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They had battled all afternoon Saturday, from Penn State-Scranton's
first-half lead and from a second-half spurt, both of which threatened to end
this game for good. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Both times Hazleton hung in there, and even after Scranton's 88-75 victory
was over, the Lions just wouldn't go down. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I wouldn't say they're better than us," said Hazleton center Tom Edwards,
who had 14 points. "They're not. We couldn't play to the level we should have
played up to." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 From the miserable start -- they missed five of six from the field to start
the game -- that gave Scranton a 10-point lead in under three minutes, the
Lions had to come back just to stay in it Saturday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We've been down before," Edwards said. "We know that we can come back." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Heck, they did it the first time against Scranton, on a 35-foot miracle at
the buzzer that dragged Hazleton from the defeat into an overtime that proved
Scranton's undoing back in January. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Saturday, no matter how many leads the Lions erased or how many times
they rallied, it was never enough. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We figured we fell back and were able to come back all the other times,"
said Joe Nemshick, the reserve guard who had 11 points Saturday. "We just came
up short the last time." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now they are even farther back where it counts most, in second place in the
Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference standings. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just days ago, Hazleton was the only undefeated team in the CCAC. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then came Delaware and Scranton, two of the Lions' first-half victims. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now Hazleton is second at 6-2 to Scranton's 8-1, and while the Lions'
playoff chances are still pretty safe, any shot at first place in the
conference will come in the final six league games. The last four are on the
road. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If they are to win the conference title now, they must come back once more. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're concerned," Edwards said. "But that's not our only concern. We're
just going to go out and try to win every game. We're just going to focus on
what we have to do at hand." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 he Lions didn't look very focused Saturday, especially in the first of
several sloppy stretches. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the first four minutes alone, Jason Bodnar missed his first four shots
from the field, and the Lions gave up rebounds and turnovers as the Blue
Knights pulled away. Scranton led by nine points before Hazleton even scored,
when Tom Edwards hit the first of two free throws. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We just fell apart at some spots," Nemshick said. "We turned the ball over
in places where we should, and they capitalized when we didn't." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After those first four minutes, Scranton led 11-1. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We came out slow, and it took us a little while to get warmed up," said
Bodnar, the freshman forward who led the team with 26 points Saturday. "We
came out a little flat. But things started going pretty well." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, the Lions did pull closer, despite a barrage of foul calls that
turned against them nearly every play. Hazleton was called for eight fouls in
the first seven minutes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nemshick came in, hit a couple of three-pointers, and lifted the Lions to
within three points, despite the officials' calls that drew considerable ire
from Hazleton coach Tom Caccese. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They just kept on fighting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We didn't give up," Nemshick said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Lions tied the game in the second half at 48-48, then took another
vicious blow. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After missing free throw, Edwards' elbow was hurt by a Scranton player's
tooth in the scramble for the ball. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He spent the next few minutes on the bench while Caccese frantically taped
the injured arm, and while the Blue Knights pulled away once more. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Scranton rolled off nine straight points to break the tie, and Hazleton's
fate seemed sealed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It hurts a lot when your big guy's out," Nemshick said. "He's the bulk of
our offense, and he gets the rebounds when we need them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But without him the Lions were left to try another comeback, from as many
as 14 points down in the last 10 minutes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They cut the lead to seven, then five, fighting till the very end. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We felt that if we hang with them, we can pull it out at the end," Bodnar
said. "We just let it get too far out of reach." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But not without a fight. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even after the game, words were exchanged between a Scranton coach and
several Hazleton players. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I hope they lose and we get to play them again," said one of the Hazleton
players hanging around in the hallway outside the locker room. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They were angered by the game, enraged by the confrontation, and ready to
keep fighting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We can beat them again," Edwards said. "No question." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They're not through fighting yet. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "In the conference, this was our challenge," Nemshick said. "We didn't play
that bad, and we can still build on it. You'll see us in the playoffs." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bob Nocek is Hazleton Sports Editor of The Times Leader. His column appears
Sunday in The Times Leader Hazleton Edition.

Putting Up A Good Fight