A pro-Penn State crowd took in the Nittany Lions 73-68 victory over Drexel Saturday afternoon at the PPL Center in Allentown and the event was one that helped further a new era of basketball entertainment in the Lehigh Valley.

With Villanova and Lehigh squaring off in an early season opener at the PPL Center back on November 14, Saturday's affair had a hometown feel for the Nittany Lions (11-1), who are off to their best start since the 1995-96 team opened their year at 13-0.

That hometown feeling was what Penn State was hoping for when they decided to join up for this two-game series against the Dragons (2-8), as next year's contest will be played at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

"Our fans and alumni comes from across the state, so anytime we can play in front of them it's great for the school," said Penn State's Assistant Athletic Communications Director, Alissa Clendenen. "The students just finished up finals week and most of them would have been home already. Ever since coach [Pat] Chambers has been with us, he's always wanted to expand our reach. He saw this as an opportunity to grow to Penn State basketball and I think you saw that."

It was probably the best opportunity for the Nittany Lions to showcase their act to the Lehigh Valley, as the excitement for Penn State basketball among their alumni base has been at a feverish pitch as of late. The men's basketball team has been accustomed to taking a backseat to the football program, but in Chambers' fourth-year at the helm of the program, dividends are finally paying off for the Nittany Lions, who received three votes in the Associated Press Top-25 poll last week, thanks in part to their nine-game winning streak.

Being able to bring them to Allentown in the PPL Center's inaugural year, just happened to be good timing.

"We're excited to host the Penn State-Drexel men's basketball game," said Global Spectrum's Gunnar Fox, General Manager of PPL Center. "This is a great match-up between two very talented in-state rivals and we anticipate much local support in favor of both teams.

"With both Penn State and Drexel having such extensive alumni fan bases across the state of Pennsylvania, it made sense to bring the match-up to the new PPL Center. This gave fans the opportunity to watch two teams with storied history square off for the first time in 22 years."