M. Hoops stays perfect at Palestra vs. Lafayette

Penn coach Fran Dunphy handed friend and ex-assistant coach Frn O'Hanlon his sixth loss this season. After the pre-game shoot around, the Quakers straggled off the court in bunches, thinking about a desperately needed win. Freshman guard Lamar Plummer, one of the last off, bent over to remove a piece of trash of the Palestra floor, trying to keep it untarnished -- like the 22-0 home record of the Quakers against Lafayette. Penn (5-8, 1-1) needed to pick up the pieces against Lafayette last night after a tough opening weekend in the Ivy League. The Palestra floor was the right place to start. Though the Quakers came away with a 74-68 victory, the opening minutes were dismal. The home perfection against Lafayette (9-6, 1-0) looked like a thing of the past. "It's not their style that makes it difficult for us to play them, it's him," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said of his friend, Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon. "If someone said to me you never have to play, coach against him again, it would be fine with me? he's my friend." O'Hanlon's Leopards began the contest poised to take advantage of the struggling Quakers. Lafayette posted a quick seven points, to Penn's two, in under two minutes. Remnants of the weekend crept out of the closet. Penn guard Michael Jordan (15 pts., 6 assts.) turned the ball over on his second touch, continuing the ball handling difficulties present at Yale. Lafayette also took advantage of the Quakers lack of size inside. "He's got Stefan in there who is tough for us to guard, there's no doubt about it," Dunphy said of Lafayette center Stefan Ciosici. Ciosici, who had 25 points on the night, opened up his inside game immediately. One of his many layups on the night started the Leopards' scoring. After Dunphy took a twenty-second timeout in the initial two minutes of the game, the complexion changed. "Well, we weren't playing real well. We were kind of stinking the joint up," Dunphy said. "They were making their shots. We weren't playing real well defensively." After the quick timeout, the Quakers began to pick it up. The remainder of the first half, the Quakers found some success with an inside game. The rock was also taken care of by the guards, in addition to their generally consistent outside shooting. Penn committed only three turnovers in the first stanza. Penn's Paul Romanczuk, who finished the night with 14 pts., established a presence in the paint, with seven first-half points. His defense on Ciosici paid off as well. He held the 6'11" center to eight points and three rebounds. Both Romanczuk and junior Jed Ryan had four rebounds in the half. "He's a very good physical player," Romanczuk said of Ciosici. "It' s different, because in the Ivy League you don't see someone that size." Dunphy gave the Quakers a fresh look in the first half as well. In contrast to the six-man rotation used at Yale, Dunphy played nine Quakers in the first stanza, including little utilized senior captain Jeff Goldstein and Plummer. "Jeff Goldstein might be the finest human being I've met. He's never going to hurt you," Dunphy said. "It is up to me to give those guys a little more run. Lamar, to be honest with you, hasn't been ready," he added. "I need to give him a little more time to work the kinks out. The Quakers walked into the locker room with a four point lead, 38-34, but the second half started with a Lafayette run. Three-point shots by guards Tyson Whitfield and Brian Ehlers gave the Leopards a 43-38 lead. Penn battled back. Romanczuk kept the inside game alive with several low post finishes. Ryan and Matt Langel (9 pts.) got their strokes going, to keep the Quakers in the game. "It was a much needed win for us," Dunphy said, "and we needed it badly for obvious reasons." Lafayette had another run in them, though. With 5:10 remaining, the Leopards took a six point lead, behind Ciosici's broad back. The center converted six of his own points in less than a minute. The Quakers stormed right back behind two clutch treys by Garret Kreitz. The senior made up for his tough night shooting, 4-for-13 from the floor, by putting Penn on top for good, 67-66, draining a 21-footer in rhythm. The final blow that took the wind out of the Leopards' sail was a floater by Langel -- the very same shot he missed at Yale. "We made the shot tonight, we didn't make it at Yale," Dunphy said of the runner. "It is just one of those things that happens." With the shot clock at two, and 39.8 left on the game clock, Langel drove the lane and tickled the twine. The Quaker capped the badly needed win by keeping the ball clear of the press- picking up the last piece remaining from the weekend. The Palestra floor remained unscathed against Lafayette, 23-0. "We are playing okay. I am not displeased with how we are playing basketball," Dunphy said. "I think this is a very good basketball team tonight that we beat." The Palestra floor stayed clean thanks to Plummer's caretaking. More importantly, the record against Lafayette stayed untarnished thanks to improved play.