Underrated!

The men's basketball team rallied to knock out No. 6 Temple in an overtime thriller. This could be the start of something special. It was only the second game of the year, but by beating Temple, 73-70, in overtime last night, the Penn men's basketball team has Quaker fans -- especially the 8,722 in attendance last night, hundreds of whom stormed the court following the game -- anxiously awaiting March Madness. Last night, the national college basketball scene welcomed the Quakers to its ranks. Penn knew it could compete with anyone in the nation, and they proved that by upsetting Big Five rival Temple, the No. 6 team in the nation. The win over the Owls was Penn's first since February 1982 -- before John Chaney became Temple's coach. When Penn point guard Michael Jordan nailed two free throws with 5.8 seconds left in overtime, the Red and Blue showed that the Owls might not be the best college basketball team in Philadelphia. Jordan's foul shots iced the victory -- Penn's first over the Owls since 1982. "It's a real big win for our players," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I'd like to give you a cliche or two, but I can't do that. I'm really happy for our players." Jordan finished with 22 points, playing all 40 minutes of regulation time and the entire overtime period. While the Quakers' junior point guard hit numerous big shots throughout the game, the biggest came in the extra period. With the teams tied at 58, Jordan opened the scoring in overtime, burying a three-pointer from the top of the key. This score gave Penn a lead it would never relinquish. "Down the stretch, I just wanted to pull it out for my team," Jordan said. Last week against Kansas, Jordan missed two short jumpers in the lane with time running out. There would be no repeat of that performance last night. "After the Kansas game, I talked to some of my mentors, and they told me to just slow down, settle down and calm down," Jordan said. "That's what I tried to do tonight." From the moment the Quakers stepped on the court, they looked confident. Despite falling behind at the end of the first half and the start of the second, the Quakers never fell too far behind Temple, and they stayed within striking distance. To stay within striking distance, the Quakers knew they had to take the Owls away from their normal game plan. Led by 6'10" forward Lamont Barnes, the Temple frontcourt is the core of its attack. Penn knew this and began Owl-hunting by firing from long distance. Quakers shooting guard Matt Langel got the first hit when he connected from nearly 25 feet to put Penn up 3-0. Treys from Jordan and Jed Ryan, along with a 10-foot jumper by Geoff Owens, gave the Quakers a 11-2 lead with only three minutes gone in the first half. By hitting shots from everywhere beyond the arc, Penn forced Temple to abandon the defense which has made Temple coach John Chaney famous. "[Langel] started shooting the ball from 25 feet out -- that's pretty far out. They made us come out of our match-up" Chaney said. "They made us go out and get them man-to-man." While coming out of their famed match-up zone defense, the Owls turned-up the defensive pressure. Picking up the Quakers before they crossed half-court, the Owls forced Penn to cough up numerous turnovers. While the Quakers' turnovers began to pile up, the Owls finally began to find the bottom of the net. When Quincy Wadley dropped a three with 10:40 remaining in the first half, the Owls pulled to within two of the Red and Blue at 15-13. Turning to a full-court press, Temple found momentum swinging its way. A jumper by Temple forward Mark Karcher with 7:23 left in the half tied the game at 17. On the ensuing inbounds play, Penn succumbed to Temple's full-court press, and the Owls took their first lead on a Greer free throw. The lead change occurred in the middle of a 20-2 run by the Owls, which found them on top, 26-17, at its end. By halftime, Penn had committed 12 turnovers to Temple's one, resulting in 12 Temple points. Nevertheless, Penn kept it close at half, going into the locker room trailing 31-26. Showing shades of last week's game against Kansas, the Quakers came out after the break lethargically. This cold spell in the first few minutes following intermission, however, soon faded away. When Paul Romanczuk drove and scored on a layup, Penn was within three at 39-36. After trading baskets for the next seven minutes, Ryan connected again from downtown and the scoreboard showed Penn with its first lead since the middle of the first half. The Quakers were on top, 49-48, with 6:10 showing on the clock. During the game, Ryan -- who scored 13 points -- buried three shots from past the three point arc, and the ability of a 6'7" forward to contribute far from the basket is one of the main aspects of Penn's game that Temple found frustrating. "We don't have a problem with teams like Stanford because they have a big guy that stays inside," Chaney said. "We have a problem with teams that have five guys running around loose." The Quakers ran around loose for the rest of the game, keeping the Owls from regaining the lead. After trading shots back and forth, Penn's lead was 57-53 with under two minutes remaining. But Temple was relentless, as forward Mark Karcher drove and hit a layup while getting fouled by Ryan. Karcher missed the free throw and fouled Romanczuk on the rebound. Romanczuk hit one foul shot to increase the Penn lead back to three. But Temple sophomore guard Lynn Greer kept the game close by hitting a shot with 58 seconds left, narrowing Penn's lead to one. After a Temple timeout with 10.1 seconds to go in regulation, Penn forward Frank Brown fouled a driving Greer. As the Palestra crowd became louder Greer stepped to the line with 3.4 seconds in the game. He sunk one free throw to send the game to overtime with the score knotted at 58. In overtime, it was almost all Penn. Although the Owls closed to within one with seven seconds remaining, everyone in the Palestra knew who would win this game. When the horn sounded and Penn won, the Quaker faithful stormed the court. They knew this win was big, but they also knew that it could just be the beginning.

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