Penn misfires with game 'on the line'

Rashid Bey was held in check, but the Penn men's basketball team fell short of five straight wins. It was everything Big 5 basketball is supposed to be. The Palestra was packed to the corners, even though the two teams are under .500 winning percentage. There were even red wigs on the heads of St. Joe's fans. The basketball wasn't bad either; in fact it was a thriller. It was what the Quakers (7-9) were waiting for all season -- except they couldn't win against rival St. Joseph's (7-8). "It was a tremendous crowd and I hope our kids were excited about it," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "It was a great Philadelphia game. Too bad we couldn't come out on the winning end of it." No explanations could be given in the end. With 1:04 left, Hawks guard Rashid Bey, playing with four fouls for much of the second half, hit a running jumper to put the Hawks ahead by two, 55-53. Quakers guard Michael Jordan, who shut down the NBA prospect for much of the game, then took his turn to bring the crowd out of their seats. Off the in-bounds pass, the sophomore streaked down court and shot his own floater, which slid through the net to tie the game again at 55. The Quakers fouled Hawks forward Duval Simmonds, who drained both free throw attempts with just 9.9 seconds left. With the Hawks up two, the ball got into the hands of Romanczuk again. The forward was fouled with just 2.2 seconds left, giving him chance to tie the game. The first free throw followed the same fate as many 7-of-10 Saturday night -- missing. As the only possible shot at a victory, Romanczuk purposely missed the second, looking for a possible rebound to tie the game. "Figuring that we had to miss to get try to get a tie, I wanted Paul to miss it to the right side," Dunphy said. "Which he did a real good job, and Mike actually got his hands on the ball, obviously a little off balance? it almost went." Jordan nearly took the game in his own hands again, but came up a little short. When the guard circled in to the basket, he was off balance and barely got off a last attempt. The 57-55 final let 8,722 fans of the sellout crowd breath for the first time in minutes. But the result may not let the Quakers sleep for the rest of the week, as they came up just short of the Big 5 gods' favor. "There is not a lot of justification," Dunphy said. "We came to play, we played hard, but we've got to play a little bit harder and a little bitter more opportunistic. We want to win the game." It wasn't just foul shots which cost Penn the game. The Quakers inability to foul out any St. Joe's players, despite the fact that four of St. Joe's starters had four fouls by midway through the second half, was equally devastating. Other than the discrepancy in foul shots, the game was even in almost every aspect throughout the game. The Quakers came out poised to continue with their recent winning ways. After the Hawks won the tip, the familiar Penn three-point barrage began early and often. Penn's opening points came on a Jed Ryan three from the left corner. The Quakers' rotation tightened up, without the help of Matt Langel (out with a bruised thigh) and junior Frank Brown, out with soreness in his knee. In place of Langel, Plummer was asked step up early in his first start. Jordan (20 points) hit from behind the arc just two minutes later. Plummer got in on the action next, canning a trey to put the Quakers up by seven, 11-4. The Hawks settled down in front of their red-wigged following to make their own run. The Quakers hit a drought for 9:24 seconds.The Hawks' surge was led by junior big man Robert Haskins (11 pts., 8 rebounds). But the story -- Plummer. The freshman showed he had nothing but ice in his veins. In the last 2:46 he put up two huge three-point shots to surge the Quakers into the half -time lead, 28-22. "I am sure that they weren't going to allow us to shoot 7-for-11 again in the second half," Dunphy said. "I am sure they talked about that." The second half had an entirely different outlook. Plummer took a back seat to his Abington Friends teammate Jordan. "It was a total team effort," Jordan said. "Our big guys were stepping out, pushing the back door passes, giving me a chance to get to cut down low." St. Joe's changed their philosophy in the second half, trying to overpower Penn in the paint. Hawks' forward Duval Simmonds (13 pts.) brought his muscle underneath. But it was the six-foot man who countered for the Quakers. Jordan carried his team with 10 points in an eight minute span of the second half and shut down his counterpart. Bey was unable to get into rhythm. The 5'11" wonder was charged with two fouls early in the half and then picked up his fourth with only 11:45 left in the half. Bey then took an early seat on the bench at a crucial time -- with the teams locked at 43-43 tie. But the Quakers couldn't take advantage. Jordan continued his strong play, but the inside game couldn't get going despite the fact that Haskins was also in foul trouble. Romanczuk was unable to exploit the foul troubles of the Hawks. The 6'7" Quakers' big man (7 pts., 8 rebs.) was unable to establish his usually strong inside game, having trouble sat the line. "I can't explain it," Dunphy said of Paul's shooting, "I wish I could, if I could then we'd have another solution, and then maybe try to do something about it."