PSU hoops memories: Cable Car Classic in '95

Lea Asbell-Swanger and Terry Swanger

Editor’s note: Penn State Hoops Memories will appear each Saturday during Big Ten basketball season. Choosing the Cable Car Classic Tournament of December 1995 as a favorite Penn State basketball memory was pretty easy for us.

It was a wonderful excuse to revisit the San Francisco Bay area where we had honeymooned a few years earlier. Here was a beautiful opportunity to spend New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, return to the Cliff House restaurant for brunch and spend a couple of days in Napa Valley. And we liked our team’s chances in the tourney. Perfect!

All the ingredients for a college hoops classic were there. Georgia Tech brought a national ranking, Atlantic Coast Conference prestige and all-American point guard Stephon Marbury, to the party. Santa Clara had an all-American candidate of its own named Steve Nash. Bronco fans knew his skills were good enough to shock Marbury, and if everything followed form, those two guards would provide the headline entertainment in the final. Things got interesting when Penn State and Bradley demonstrated that they were there to compete, not to provide first-round tune-ups for their marquee opponents.

The Santa Clara contingent started taunting Penn State’s Dan Earl during warm-ups about how he was to be “schooled” by Nash. Their constant chants of “Earl! Earl!” faded as Dan harassed Nash into missing one awkward shot after another. Earl seemed to be the teacher on this day as he dominated Nash with totally focused defense, patient offensive possessions and relaxed shooting.

Earl kept teammates Matt Gaudio, Glenn Sekunda, Calvin Booth and Pete Lisicky involved in the offense while he dropped in 17 points of his own. Nash was so off his game that not only were his shots not falling, he also struggled to distribute the ball effectively or even defend well. Nash finished the game with 6 points, missed all for of his 3-point attempts and never shot a free throw.

Penn State led by 10 at the half and was never threatened, winning comfortably, 70-49.

By game’s end, the arena had filled with Georgia Tech and Bradley fans. The Tech fans seemed to have looks of concern, perhaps because the tournament’s home team was dispatched so easily. The numerous Bradley fans in attendance cheered for our “upset” of Santa Clara and then enjoyed watching their Braves refuse to follow predictions as they defeated the highly favored Yellow Jackets.

Hoops fans got their clash of the titan point guards in round two, but it came in the consolation game won by Santa Clara and Steve Nash. It was a rough tournament for the Tech faithful and Marbury.

Penn State defeated a determined and talented Bradley team in the final. The Georgia Tech and Santa Clara fans who stuck around for the game saw a nail biter. Neither team could pull away. Penn State trailed by a point at the half and eventually sealed the win with a Lisicky 3-pointer at the 1:19 mark.

No one taunted Earl as he dished out nine more assists against Bradley. Even so, not many in the room that night would predict that this Nittany Lion team would climb as high as No. 9 in the polls and finish second in the Big Ten by season’s end.

This tournament is a favorite memory because it foretold the special season that was to come. This Nittany Lion team could play with anyone, and we saw Dan Earl play perhaps the most complete 40-minute game we’ll ever see. It’s a special treat to have him back as a coach.

Lea Asbell-Swanger and Terry Swanger, of Boalsburg, have been attending Penn State basketball games together and making friends with basketball officials for 20 years.

Editor’s note: Penn State Hoops Memories will appear each Saturday during Big Ten basketball season.