AT COURTSIDE: Laster making most of new-found playing time

"He's a man of religion," Ira Bowman said of his roommate of three years. If belief has anything to do with playing basketball, Penn senior Cedric Laster proved that point last night with a career high 16 points coming off the bench in the Quakers' 90-73 victory over Lehigh at the Palestra. After waiting in the wings for three-and-a-half seasons, Laster's patience paid off -- taking full advantage of the measly 15 minutes of playing time to put up career-best numbers. Laster's effect on the game was great enough that even Lehigh coach Dave Duke felt the need to comment. "Laster got three [three-pointers]. That was what hurt us the most," Duke said. Drilling trifectas, driving to the hoop and grabbing four offensive rebounds to back up his 16 points, Laster used his 15 minutes to outscore four of the Penn starters, who each received nearly twice the amount of playing time. "The more chances I get to be on the court and just relax and get used to playing, I definitely start to get more comfortable with my role on the team," Laster said. "There's not a lot of pressure -- it's just trying to relax and play good basketball." After averaging only six minutes of playing time in Penn's first four games, with six total points, Laster rode the pine for the next six games -- a span of 44 days. It seemed like Laster's fourth year would be just like his past three. "There were a lot of tough times, but I also made it a real positive experience for me," Laster said. "I was behind some great guys, who were great basketball players as well as people. I just tried to learn about my game and myself." After a brief two-minute stint against Lafayette, Laster's stats looked dismal. In five games, Laster was 3-for-8 from the field, attempted no treys, had only two rebounds and committed three turnovers. When forward Nat Graham left the team after losing the love for the game, Laster was given a golden opportunity to step up. The step up was indeed a slow process. Despite immediately getting more than 10 minutes of playing time upon Graham's departure, it was not until Friday against Cornell that Laster began to break out. With 18 minutes on the hardwood, Laster had eight points, including two treys. The next night, he chalked up six points on 3-of-4 shooting in 18 minutes. "It's never a given how much [playing time] I'll get," Cedric said. "It depends on the game, the flow of the game, the fouls, how I'm playing, how they're playing?If I'm playing, either somebody messed up or somebody got in foul trouble." Neither foul trouble nor poor play on the part of his teammates had anything to do with Laster's entrance last night. Laster came in nine minutes into the game to replace freshman Paul Romanczuk, who had already put up 10 points and had yet to commit a foul. Only five seconds after coming into the game, Laster stole the ball from Lehigh's Brett Eppenheimer, dumped it off to Donald Moxley, who bounced it to Bowman for an easy layup. "We certainly need [Laster] badly, and I'm happy for him that he's stepping up and getting it done," Quakers coach Fran Dunphy said. "I think this is a much deserved opportunity that he is now seizing, because he has paid a great deal of dues and been a great person to our program. "It's nice to see those shots going in the basket and also getting the rebounds. He's such a good athlete and such a strong player that he can really help us defensively as well." As for Laster, he is clearly more than enthused about the extra playing time. "It feels good. It feels really good," Laster said. "I've been waiting for a chance to play for a really long time. I'm glad I'm able to get a chance. I thank God for that every day." Religion at his side, Cedric Laster has drastically improved his performance. The only thing to do now is to get the fans to believe.