* SETTLING DOWN AT PENN STATE -- Last season was an up one for Penn State, which finished third in the NIT. It was a downer for Monroe Brown, a 6-foot-3 guard from Aberdeen who suffered a broken nose and a broken finger, and shot 35.6 percent for the campaign.
Now a junior, Brown's offensive output has evened out again, as he's averaging 10.9 points on 46.2 percent shooting. He also gets 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game, but Brown's greatest worth comes at the other end of the floor, where he's regarded as one of the top defenders in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Brown's 2.7 steals a game rank him first in the A-10.
The second man off the bench for the Nittany Lions is Michael Jennings, a sophomore guard who grew up in Severna Park but played at St. John's Prospect Hall in Frederick County. Penn State is 15-7 overall, 8-5 in the A-10, where Temple and Rutgers are both 10-3. Brown's assignment tomorrow will be stopping Mark Macon when Temple invades Happy Valley.
* SOPHOMORE SUB -- The 1987-88 All-Metro team had Penn State's Brown as a third-team selection. He was joined there by Dunbar's Lewis Lambert, who is becoming a factor for Cleveland State.
Lambert spent the 1988-89 season at Maine Central Institute, and sat out last season when he was unable to meet the Proposition 48 academic standards. Now a 6-6 sophomore PTC forward, he's playing more than 10 minutes a game for the Vikings, and averaging 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds. Cleveland State is 11-11 overall, 7-4 in the Mid-Continent Conference.