Geoff Owens scored a career high 18 points, while Michael Jordan had 20 in Penn's win. Penn shooting guard Michael Jordan dropped in 20 points -- 18 coming in the first half -- while center Geoff Owens added a career high 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Quakers, as Penn spanked Lehigh, 73-56. Penn's defense rendered Lehigh guard Brett Eppehimer -- the nation's No. 5 leading scorer -- ineffective during the whole contest. Eppehimer, who was averaging over 25 points per game, shot an abysmal 4-for-15 from the floor for 11 points on the game. "I though we were very good defensively throughout," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We targeted the fact that Eppehimer was their leading scorer and we needed to really have a concerted effort to not let him go off." The defensive trio of Jordan and guards Matt Langel and Mike Sullivan frustrated Eppehimer, and the Penn defense as a whole held Lehigh to 44.6 percent shooting from the field. "When the proverbial substance hit the fan, instead of becoming more precise and more calm, we got less fundamental," Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana said of his team's reaction to the Penn defensive effort. After close games with top 10 opponents Kansas and Temple, this one turned out to be a breeze for the Quakers (2-1), who never trailed the Engineers (3-3) at any point in the game. The game started out nip-and-tuck, but Penn pulled away from the Boys from Bethlehem on the strength of a 10-2 run late in the first half. With the Quakers up 28-22, Owens took over, victimizing Lehigh center Sah-U-Ra Brown. In a series that spanned less than a minute, Owens first backed Brown in for a baby hook, then rejected Brown's shot down low at the other end. On the ensuing possession, Jordan found Owens, who missed a jump shot in the lane, grabbed his own offensive board and put it back, drawing a foul on Brown. Owens converted the free throw to put Penn ahead by 11 points (33-22) with three minutes remaining in the half. "[My offense] is still not where I want it to be," Owens said. "I think tonight was just one of those nights where I was getting really good looks at the basket." Penn extended the lead to 16 on Jordan's three-pointer with three seconds left in the half, giving Penn a 42-26 lead at the break. "The shot at the end of the half was critical, because it sent a message that the momentum was still with us," Dunphy said. Mentesana admitted the run to end the first half was a backbreaker for the Engineers. "You get down 16 [points] to those guys, and it's a tough battle to fight the rest of the way," Mentesana said. Lehigh tried to creep back into the game at the start of the second half, but Penn did not provide a repeat of its slow second-half starts against Kansas and Temple. Lehigh never got closer than 13. "We're always concerned about [a second-half letdown], but tonight we got off to a pretty decent start," Dunphy said. Penn put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run in just over three and a half minutes in the second half. Penn sixth-man Frank Brown started the run with a three-pointer, just after the Engineers had pulled to within 13 of the Quakers. A Paul Romanczuk lay-up and a Matt Langel running jumper in the paint put Penn up 57-39. After Owens put in the first of three tip-ins, Brown capped off the run he started with a jump shot from just inside the arc, giving Penn a commanding 61-39 lead and effectively killing any hopes of an Engineers comeback. With the game in hand, the only question left on Penn fans' minds was -- would they be dining for free? By scoring 100 points, local cheesesteak establishment Abner's would have exchanged each ticket stub for a free cheesesteak -- which they've had to do only once, on December 7, 1996 following Penn's 100-58 drubbing of Lehigh. Senior forward Jed Ryan -- who finished with eight points --Ekept the fans' cheesesteak hopes alive, hitting two threes in the second half, one with 5:18 left to put the Quakers up by a score of 72-44, the Quakers' biggest lead of the game at 28. But Abner's was spared as Dunphy cleared his bench, getting in reserves senior guard Brendan Cody and sophomore forward Jon Tross with just under four minutes left. Even freshman Dan Solomito saw his first minutes of collegiate ball.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.