Penn State and Duquesne were tied 67-67 with 5.2 seconds left in the game when an inexplicable explosion by Dukes coach Keith Dambrot allowed the Nittany Lions to shoot a total of six free throws (PSU making all six) to escape with a 73-67 victory.

Short of the Lions pulling away in a possible overtime, Dambrot’s stupidity was all that allowed PSU to win in regulation.

Forward Lamarr Stevens shook out of a recent slump to score a game-high 25 points for PSU and set up what can only be described as a bizarre ending. With the game tied 67-67, Stevens dribbled the length of the floor and went hard to the basket. He was fouled by Duquesne’s Michael Hughes with only 5.2 seconds left in the game.

Dambrot went ballistic, and was hit with a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game. Making his eruption all the more puzzling were the facts that Stevens had just missed a pair of free throws that allowed the Dukes to tie the game (on two free throws by Eric Williams) and PSU was a collective 11 of 20 from the stripe in the game to that point.

Rasir Bolton hit four of four free throws on the technicals to finish 16 points. Then Stevens hit a pair to account for the final score.

The victory allowed the Lions to improve to 6-5 on the season while Duquesne slipped to 8-3.