M. Hoops win streak goes to five

Penn's inside-outside game to Paul Romanczuk and Michael Jordan combined for 37 points last night. La Salle has had its share of great players during coach Speedy Morris' tenure. Lionel Simmons, Randy Wood, Doug Overton and Tim Legler are all NBA players who have made their way through the Explorers' lineup. Morris probably wishes he had even one of his former stars on this year's 7-15 Explorers team. A combination of poor La Salle defense, red-hot Penn shooting and the disappearance of the Explorers' top two players turned a close game at the half into a 82-64 Penn blowout last night at the Palestra. "Right now the team needs a lot of fixing," Morris said, "and I'm not sure if I'm the carpenter to do it. We can't get much lower than we are now." Penn (12-9) quickly grabbed a lead it would never relinquish with a 13-2 run over the game's first six minutes. The run was keyed by five La Salle turnovers and four quick points from first-time starter Jeff Goldstein, who replaced an injured Paul Romanczuk in the opening lineup. "I told Paul before the game that I wanted to give Jeff a start," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "It was not only because of the injury, but he also deserves it because he works hard every day in practice." Romanczuk also provided a lift for the Quakers as he logged 26 minutes off the bench despite a right-wrist injury. Romanczuk scored 18 points, including 13 key low-post points in the second half. "Every game that I go out there," Langel said, "and every practice I play in, I am feeling more comfortable playing college ball." La Salle avoided an early blowout with an 11-2 run behind five Donnie Carr points. Penn continued the wild first half with a 9-2 run of its own, but two Mike Gizzi free throws knotted the game at 34 with two minutes left in the half. The Explorers were basically a two-man team as Carr and Gizzi combined for 23 of La Salle's points in the first half that ended with Penn up 37-34. "At halftime we talked about switching on screens, doing a lot of helping out [on Gizzi and Carr]," Penn forward Matt Langel said. "We were trying to pressure the perimeter game." The strategy did not work initially as the two Explorers combined for nine points in the first six minutes of the second half. A Gizzi three-pointer pulled the Explorers to within 56-50. Yet over the game's final 13 minutes, Gizzi and Carr, who combined for 34 points a game, vanished from the scoring column. La Salle was left looking for someone to pick up the scoring load, and there were few volunteers. "I think that its kind of obvious we didn't have a game plan [in the second half]," Gizzi said. "When we don't run our offense, we are not successful." While the Explorers' top players were struggling, the Quakers were boosted by their newest weapon, Matt Langel. Coming off a weekend for which he was the Ivy League Player of the Week, Langel led Penn with 19 points and five assists. His 23-foot three-pointer gave Penn a 65-53 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game. "If I could bare the pain, I knew I could play tonight," Romanczuk said. "It was not even thought that I couldn't play tonight." With the Quaker's inside-out game working to perfection, Penn slowly increased its lead in the second half. La Salle's fate was further sealed when the Explorers picked up their 10th team foul just eight and a half minutes into the second half. Penn shot 21 foul shots in the second half, versus only eight for La Salle. Penn exploded for 45 second-half points, on 64 percent shooting from the field. The Quakers' ball movement led to countless open shots against a La Salle defense that yielded an average of 79 points per game. "We talk about it all the time in practice," Morris said. "Anybody who laces up can be a good defensive player, but we're not doing it." Morris left the court thinking his team had lost a game it easily should have won. Yet the La Salle coach realizes his team no longer can boast future NBA players. On Tuesday night, all of the stars were on the Quakers.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.