Quakers play for pride on last road trip

Although Penn is out of the Ivy title hunt, Dartmouth and Harvard still consider the Quakers part of the league's elite. As Penn's basketball season winds down, the Quakers find themselves in an unfamiliar situation. The ultimate goal of an Ivy League title, and the NCAA berth that goes along with it, is but an afterthought now. While Penn is four games behind league leader Princeton with five to play, it would take a minor miracle for the Quakers to advance to the field of 64. Penn has gone from being a contender to the undesirable role of a possible spoiler. "Penn is the type of program that whether or not they win the league title that year, you know you are in for a battle each time you play," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. This weekend the Quakers take on the two teams with semi-realistic chances of catching Princeton this season. First up on Friday is Dartmouth (16-6, 8-2 in the Ivies). Then Penn gets ready to rumble with Harvard (14-8, 7-3) on Saturday. While the Quakers' record (9-12, 5-4) indicates a winning season would be a more realistic goal, coach Fran Dunphy has not changed the way he approaches each game. "I haven't given it a great amount of thought," Dunphy said. "We treat each game as a separate entity. We want to play well and we are playing for pride." If the Quakers are to upset the Big Green, it will be because of their young talent, and not intangible motivating factors. Because of Penn's success in previous seasons, Faucher believes his team has no right to take the Quakers lightly, despite their record. "I look at their program with deep respect," Faucher said. "I see nothing but danger signs." Faucher pointed to the many possible weapons Penn has on offense, which for the most part were silent in the previous game. The exception was freshman Michael Jordan whose one-on-one game burned Dartmouth for 24 points at the Palestra. But the Quakers' defense still causes the most concern for Faucher. "Their program begins with their defense," Faucher said. "They did a good job disrupting our flow on offense. We had to run a lot more set plays. Their 'D' took control of the game and they almost ran away from us." The Big Green were saved by their inside game and their size mismatch against the Quakers. Dartmouth constantly looked to seven-foot center Brian Gilpin on isolation plays, and Sea Lonergan focused more on short baskets on his way to 24 points. The key to Penn controlling Dartmouth could be the presence of 6-foot-11 Quakers freshman Geoff Owens, who played only 18 minutes in the first game due to foul trouble. "Owens is big, and you can't teach size," Faucher said. "When he was out of there, Gilpin looked real big." While the Quakers have several aspects to work on to defeat Dartmouth, the plan for the game against Harvard is much simpler. All the Quakers have to do is play as well as they did in their first game against the Crimson. However, shooting 57 percent from the field in the rematch is more easily said than done. "They knocked us off balance in many ways," Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. "Our defense did not have any grasp on how to guard them. It also took its toll on our offense. Their offense really set the tone." Penn took control of the Harvard game early with its shooting and rolled to one of its easiest wins of the year. Sullivan believes his team's lack of familiarity with Jordan, Jed Ryan and the rest of the Quakers' young players hurt the Crimson in the initial stages of their first meeting. "It is certainly important to play well early against Penn," Sullivan said. "We have to try to not let them gain offensive momentum. Controlling momentum in the game is the key issue." The Quakers' three-point bombers enjoyed their finest game of the season against Harvard, nailing 12-of-20 from downtown. Sullivan is committed to limiting Penn's looks from behind the line, and Dunphy is well-aware he might have to look to other options. "Our adjustment might be to our inside game," Dunphy said. "We might look to (Paul) Romanczuk and Owens more often." Sullivan commented after the first game that he was pleased with his team's performance in all areas except for the three-point defense. Harvard still shot a respectable 44 percent from the field and picked up 15 offensive rebounds which led to numerous second-chance opportunities. While point guard Tim Hill led Harvard with 18 points last game, Dunphy would not mind if he was the Crimson's leading scorer again. "We want to try to keep him in front of us," Dunphy said. "We don't want to give him a chance to make everyone else better, and that might mean giving up some jumpers to him. Our hands are certainly full with him." The current records indicate that Harvard and Dartmouth have the better teams. Both Faucher and Sullivan still have visions of claiming the championship which Quakers teams have owned in recent years. While Penn might be out of the Ivy league race, the Red and Blue realize it can still play a major role in determining the outcome of the Big Green and the Crimson. 'You have to think about the games in the past," Faucher said. "Saying the name 'Penn' brings you to attention real quick."