M. Hoops samples balanced scoring

A balanced diet is a key component of a healthy life, and the Penn men's basketball team seems to be well aware of this when it takes the court. In both games this weekend, the Quakers received a healthy serving of double-digit scoring from each of their five starters. Paul Romanczuk led the Quakers with 18 points against Dartmouth on Friday night and Geoff Owens scored a team-high 16 the next night against Harvard. Yet neither big man carried his team, showing on both occasions that Penn's full arsenal of scorers will be difficult for Ivy League teams to contend with. "What they have is balance, inside and outside. They make a couple threes and you think you've got the answer because now you stay up on players and stop them," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. "As soon as they see the space, they go right at you inside." Never was this more evident than in the first half against the Big Green. With 14:29 left in the half, Penn was on top by the score of 15-4, due mainly to the shooting of Jed Ryan. Ryan was putting on a shooting clinic from three-point land, burying his first three attempts. "It was huge for us in the first half, because without that, it wasn't like we had a smooth, flowing offense," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said about Ryan's shooting. "Jed was big in the first half, no question about it." Despite getting the Quakers off to a fast start, however, Ryan was not the only option in the first half. Post players Romanczuk and Owens and shooting guard Matt Langel all contributed to the first half scoring. Ironically, the only starter not to score in the first 20 minutes was the one whose mere presence and leadership on the court is supposed to help get Penn going offensively. With point guard Michael Jordan on the bench for part of the first half, the Quakers hit a lull and allowed the Big Green to creep back into the game. "Mike helps you in so many different ways," Dunphy said. "When he's not in the game, we're not running our offense as well as we'd like." In the second half of the Dartmouth game, though, Penn proved that it has many options when its All-Ivy point guard is having an off-night. Jordan scored 10 points in the second half, but by this time, the Quakers were clearly in control of the game. One of the players who put them in this position was Romanczuk, whose inside moves resulted in both points for Penn and fouls for Dartmouth's post players. "[Paul is] a tough matchup for us. He's physical and he also puts it on the deck, and we're really concerned with foul trouble with [Shaun] Gee," Faucher said. "[Paul has] been around the block and he knows the game. They have such balance, but he is very important to what they do." Romanczuk is not the only Penn post player who is important to what the Quakers do and this point was driven home by Owens on Saturday night against the Crimson. Owens' defensive presence has been integral to Penn's success this season, but his moves on the other end of the court have also added a whole new dimension to Penn's offensive game. In the first half of the Harvard game, Owens scored eight points despite getting just one field goal attempt. The Crimson, playing without center Paul Fisher, were clearly overmatched in the post by the 6'11" Owens. This resulted in eight free throw attempts for Owens, who hit six, while putting Harvard's big men in early foul trouble. "The key for me is that if I go up strong, I can draw fouls," Owens said. "When I tend to go up a little weak and try to avoid contact, I make tough shots instead of just really trying to draw contact and go up strong." Against Harvard, Penn -- for the second night in a row -- showed that it has many options. Langel was the leading scorer at the break with 11 points, riding the strength of his perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. And like the night before, the Quakers had to deal with the disappearance of Jordan from the scoring column in the first half. For the second night in a row, this was not a problem. "I think [my teammates] responded well," Jordan said. "They were making shots. I only got two attempts [in the first half], but everybody else sure did take their share and they made them." Jordan made some shots of his own in the second half, including two important three-pointers, to finish with 10 points. But despite reaching double digits, Jordan was only Penn's fifth-leading scorer for the second straight night. "You have five guys for Pennsylvania in double figures," Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. "Penn can get scoring on a number of fronts." This weekend, it certainly did.

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