GAME ANALYSIS: No 3's, no sweat for M. Hoops

Penn men's basketball made only four three-point shots, but won. Pottsville, Pa. -- Martz Hall was filled with 2700 fans wanting to see a rare spectacle, college basketball. They saw something more rare, a Penn victory without three-point dominance. In Penn's 69-62 victory over Bucknell, the Quakers didn't play on their usual strengths. The three-point shot was virtually absent from the offense. Instead, it was the oft-mentioned lack of size up front that proved a strength for Penn. It was not a typical Quakers showing by any stretch of the imagination. Penn attempted only ten three-point shots, easily its lowest total of the season. Only four were made. Penn coach Fran Dunphy has preached the need to develop every facet of the Quakers game all season. But to this point the stalwart of the Penn scoring was the three-pointer. Averaging 18.5 three point attempts per game entering the contest, the Quakers made fewer than four three point baskets only once (November 29 against Washington State with three), and attempted fewer than 13 treys in one game this season. "I guess they know we are a team that shoots threes," sophomore guard Michael Jordan said. "And they were jumping out on our plays so we had to go back door and get in the gaps." But the Quakers still managed to string together its second consecutive win. One example of the change in the Quakers style was senior guard Garett Kreitz, who has stood tall all year while averaging 12.9 points per game. The majority of his work has been done from beyond twenty feet out. Kreitz is shooting 45 percent from three point land, and accounts for 37 percent of the entire team's three point baskets. Against the Bison, Kreitz couldn't get his game in rhythm. The 6'1" guard was the high man on the Quakers with 38 minutes played. In that time he attempted only three shots, making one. What's more, he launched only one trey all afternoon, which missed. Kreitz finished with only five points. Kreitz was not alone in his struggles. Junior forward Jed Ryan, who had been trying 4.5 three-point attempts per game, took only two long-range shots. He canned one, and finished with only four points. With Kreitz dropping only one point more than his season low and Ryan posting his personal low, the Quakers had to look elsewhere. Two main reasons for success were a change in the perimeter game, led by Matt Langel, and the inside game of Paul Romanczuk. Sophomore guard Matt Langel delivered a season high 15 points. He did so while seeing extended minutes handling the ball when Jordan went down with his fourth midway through the second half. Langel, a team high 55 percent three point shooter, displayed a variety of moves in his arsenal. The 6'5" guard attempted only two three-balls, and landed one. His other four field goals came via a mid-range jump-shot and penetrations combination. "We had to take what Bucknell's defense gave you," Langel said. "They happened to switch on the perimeters." Langel got into the paint often. He tallied two points on a layup and another four with two perfect stints at the free-throw line. Langel also made a key running floater late in the game to keep Penn up for the second game in a row. "When we exchange away they're just switching on the perimeter," Langel said on the Bucknell defense. "So that wasn't necessarily open. So we had to look to go inside? and maybe get some of those mid range jumpers." A major key to the Quakers victory was an unusual advantage on the boards, 29-23. Jordan threw a twist into the story line as Penn's high man on the glass with ten rebounds. The sophomore finished with a double double, tallying 13 points, but he had no assists. A major remainder of the responsibility for the Quakers success on the boards was the play of Paul Romanczuk. Romanczuk had the rare luxury of facing a starting lineup with no player more than an inch taller than his 6'7" frame, and grabbed eight boards in the process. "I just got to use my quickness against guys that are bigger than me," Romanczuk said. "Show the ball, pump fake and get into their bodies so that they don't have that size advantage over me." Romanczuk was quick enough to take his counterparts off the dribble all game. The game plan worked as the West Chester native slashed past Bison forward Dan Bowen all afternoon, and likewise didn't allow him many easy looks. "I don't think it was a particular adjustment," Romanczuk said. "For a little bit down the stretch we weren't playing defensively on the perimeter or in the post." Romanczuk came away with 25 points. The junior got to the line 18 times, capitalizing on 15 attempts. The Quakers certainly didn't put on the shooting clinic the Pottsville natives may have expected; in the end they won, with a different style game.

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