Cheesesteak Pandemonium

Dan Solomito became the most popular man to the 4,345 in attendance at the Palestra Saturday night.

The senior's three-pointer with 10 seconds left gave the Penn men's basketball team 100 points, and treated the fans in attendance to a free cheesesteak at Abner's for the first time since Dec. 7, 1996, when the Quakers topped Lehigh, 100-58.

Penn's 100-62 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday gave the Quakers (19-6, 5-3 Ivy League) their first Ivy weekend sweep of the season. The Red and Blue defeated Harvard, 78-51, on Friday night.

Despite the cheesesteak euphoria, the Quakers' performance against Dartmouth (9-14, 2-8) cannot be overlooked. Andrew Toole led the way for the Quakers, scoring a career high in a Penn uniform with 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting.

"I just got a lot of good shots at the beginning of the game and was fortunate to knock them down," Toole said. "My teammates found me when I was open, and I was glad I could make some shots."

But it was not just Toole who contributed against the Big Green. Forward Koko Archibong had a perfect night, shooting 5 for 5 from the field for 14 points, while Ugonna Onyekwe added 12 points on 60 percent shooting.

Freshman guard Tim Begley shot 3 for 4 from beyond the three-point line and had eight rebounds and six assists, as the Quakers shot 64.4 percent from the field for the contest.

"Right now everything just seems to be clicking," Begley said. "Guys are getting open shots and making them... we're just building off each other."

It was Penn's defense, however, that tightened after the Quakers fell behind, 11-7, early in the contest. Jeff Schiffner harassed Dartmouth's leading scorer, Flinder Boyd, all night, holding him to only five points -- almost 14 below his average.

"They keyed [on Boyd], and they kept him in front," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. "They're quicker than you think --ÿthey did a good job containing Flinder's penetration."

But in the end, the crowd will probably only remember Solomito's three-pointer that treated them to free food.

"I'm definitely not the hero," he said. "I only played a few minutes... I just happened to have the ball in my hands at the right time."

The Quakers led, 88-49, with 6:37 to play, but did not score again until the 2:34 mark.

The Red and Blue heated up in the final minute, as freshman reserve Patrick Lang hit a three-pointer -- his first collegiate basket -- with 58 seconds to play, and Solomito scored his first points of the season on a fast-break layup after Lang's steal to give put the Quakers at 97 points.

Then came Solomito's three.

"I don't know how many three pointers I've shot in my life... I wasn't really worried or nervous about it, though," he said. "I got a good pass from my partner in crime, Duane [King], and I just scored."

The night before, the Quakers led by only seven, 25-18, after a first half in which Penn and Harvard (12-10, 5-5 after Saturday) combined for 21 turnovers and shot 15 for 55 from the field.

But led by Onyekwe's 15 second half points, the Quakers exploded for a 53-point second 20 minutes. The junior had 19 points and 10 rebounds overall.

Penn guards Toole and Jeff Schiffner each score 17 points on Friday. Patrick Harvey led the way for the Crimson, scoring 19 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

The Red and Blue return to action next weekend when they host Brown and Yale.

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