AT COURTSIDE: FDU gets Moore than it can handle

HACKENSACK, N.J. – Although the pro scouts may have come out to see junior guard Jerome Allen, they saw much more. Eric Moore. Penn's junior center – although he does not receive the same level of national attention as the famed Quaker backcourt – was the flame which ignited the Penn men's basketball team to a 62-47 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday. "He played terrific," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said of Moore. "I was very pleased with Eric's performance. I thought his [performance] was a key in terms of getting us started." After playing his previous two games against teams that towered over his "un-centerlike" 6-6 frame, Moore (12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block) finally found a team which was more his height. In fact, the Knights did not start anyone taller than 6-7. But the size differential which Moore has encountered to date, and will continue to face throughout the season, does not seem to faze the 210-pound starting center. Against Southern California, Moore went toe-to-toe against the highly touted 6-11 freshman Avondre Jones and limited him to only two rebounds and three points. Then last Monday at Ohio State, Moore faced off against a big-man tandem of 6-11 Nate Wilbourne and 6-9 Lawrence Funderburke. The two had been averaging 25 points and almost 60-percent shooting in the game before they met the Quaker center. But the Buckeye big men were unable to effectively handle Moore – even though they had a tremendous height advantage – they combined for only 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting. "I don't find height as hard as strength is [to play against]," Moore said. "Ohio State was taller, but a couple of guys on [Fairleigh Dickinson] were more physical." But evidently, Moore does not find physical players too much of a challenge to play against either. After all, Moore paced the Quakers with 10 first-half points, nearly a third of the team's 32-point effort before intermission. Moore scored almost all of Penn's early points. He was the first Quaker to score as he worked to get through the defense to lay the ball in the basket. But Penn still was trailing early in the contest until Moore tied the game at eight with a three-point bomb, a shot his well-known backcourt mates are more inclined to make. After that long-range jumper, the Quakers never trailed again. "I felt good coming out," Moore said. "I felt pumped up. I was really fired up for the game. I got more shots this game, so it got me in the flow quicker." Although Moore's offensive production slowed to a near stand-still in the second half, the Quakers did not need it as senior forward Barry Pierce and junior guard Matt Maloney found their touches from the outside to build upon the lead Moore almost single-handedly gave them. However, with his offense disappearing, Moore then took control on the other side of the floor. He led Penn with his intimidating defensive prowess and his defensive rebounding. After the break, Moore kept the Knights off the offensive glass as he racked up five defensive rebounds to lead the Quakers. "Our defense was very good," Dunphy said. "Our rebounding was excellent. [Moore] rebounded the ball very well all game long." But these outstanding performances by Moore are quickly becoming the norm rather than the aberration. After all, he has already chipped in two double-digit scoring performances in just the first three games of the season. Maybe Saturday's performance was a sign of what is still to come. As the opposition continues to key in on the Quaker backcourt, someone will have to step up his performance in the frontcourt. So far, Eric Moore has been that man. "Everybody keys on their guards, naturally," Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green said. "We allowed [Moore] to roam a little too much and he scored some points." Maybe he scored some points with the pro scouts as well. Maybe the pro scouts realized that there is more to the Quakers than a guard named Allen. In fact, maybe they realized that size does not always make a center. Although 6-6 is usually considered even too small to play as a professional forward, it is just the right size for a Penn center named Moore.