M. Hoops comes up just shy of upset win

Quakers can't keep lead at Ohio State COLUMBUS, Ohio – The game was supposed to be a battle of the Penn men's basketball team's famed backcourt against the power and size of the Ohio State frontcourt. However, last night at the Buckeyes' St. John Arena, 13,276 screaming fans observed why the game is not played on paper. In a back and forth, see-saw battle, it finally came down to the three-point shooting of the Buckeyes versus the outside offensive ability of the Quakers. But in the end, Penn fell short – a three-pointer short – as it fell 83-80. "I thought overall, we played pretty well," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I was satisfied with our intensity and effort. We had our chances." Penn led the Buckeyes throughout much of the contest, and held on to a slim one-point lead with less than two and a half minutes remaining in the game. But during this final stretch, the Ohio State guards took over with the help of the three men in black and white stripes. Buckeye sophomore guard Derek Anderson (a team-high 23 points) connected on an acrobatic turnaround three-pointer with about two minutes left to give the Buckeyes a two-point lead. The Quakers hung tough and even regained the lead, but then Ohio State senior co-captain Jamie Skelton (18 points) followed his teammate's lead and hit a 24-foot rainbow from the left baseline. After Penn junior guard Jerome Allen (27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) made two free throws to tie the game at 80, Ohio State stormed back. With just about a minute left, Buckeye sophomore guard Greg Simpson – last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year – penetrated through the tough Penn defense and dished off to junior forward Antonio Watson in the paint. Although Watson was unable to put the ball in the basket initially, he was right there to tip it back in to give Ohio State the lead for good. "We were trying to go inside," Ohio State coach Randy Ayers said. "We told Greg to dribble the ball inside. Greg got down on the baseline and found [Watson]. That was the big play." However, even though Penn trailed by two, there was still almost one minute remaining. Senior captain Barry Pierce (21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) inbounded the ball to Allen, who was being guarded tightly by Skelton. Allen handed the ball to junior guard Matt Maloney. However, Maloney was called for travelling on the hand-off. On the following play, junior forward Eric Moore was called for a questionable intentional foul as Simpson drove the basket for an apparent dunk. Although Simpson missed both of his free throw attempts, Ohio State was awarded the ball due to the intentional foul call. The Quakers were forced to foul Buckeye senior forward Lawrence Funderburke on the ensuing inbounding attempt, and after Funderburke made one of his free throws, the score stood at its final resting point. "Fran Dunphy certainly knows what it is going to be like when you play on the road in a Big Ten arena," Ayers said of the foul disparity throughout the game. (Penn was whistled for 22 fouls to only 12 for the home Buckeyes.) Although the game ended with the Quakers coming up three points short, Penn did lead for the overwhelming majority of the contest. The Quakers were up by 10, 44-34, at halftime behind the stellar shooting of Allen and the solid defense of the Penn frontcourt, which limited the Buckeye big men to only 16 first-half points. "They took [Allen] too lightly," Pierce said. "That's somebody you don't take lightly – because he'll burn you." The Quakers took a six-point lead in the first seven minutes of the game and then fought hard to keep Ohio State from coming back. The Penn offensive outburst began after Ohio State junior forward Rickey Dudley made one of his two free-throw attempts to tie the score at nine. After that shot, the Quakers went on a 9-3 run to go up by six. Again, with only three minutes remaining before the intermission, Penn went on another run, this time outscoring the Buckeyes 5-0. Throughout the half, the Quakers turned to Allen whenever they found themselves in trouble. Penn's all-Ivy guard was seemingly unconscious from the field. In the first 20 minutes alone, he scored 20 points (including four clutch three-point bombs in only six attempts) while also leading Penn on the boards and in assists, with four and two respectively. But in the second half, the Quakers needed someone else to help carry the load – as Skelton did a fine job after the halftime intermission of denying Allen the ball. Although Pierce picked up his play, Allen's usually reliable backcourt partner, Maloney, was having one of the worst days of his Penn career (4 for 19 from the field). The Quakers' top marksman missed even the most open of shots last night, including a 10-foot jumper from the middle of the paint with just over a minute remaining that would have given Penn an 82-80 lead. "I was rushing my shots too much," Maloney said. "I should have settled down more." As the crowd picked up the volume in the second half, the Buckeyes picked up the intensity and chipped away at the Quaker lead. When the game finally got close, it was the Buckeye marksmen who came away with the prize. "We'll be sad tonight," Pierce said. "It was hard enough fighting so long getting to where we were, getting some national consideration. In a span of an hour and a half that can all be flushed down the toilet."