Penn's big run kills Big Green

HANOVER, N.H. -- With 4:39 remaining in the first half and Penn leading Dartmouth by two, the Big Green's Shaun Gee drew his third personal foul. The All-Ivy forward spent the rest of the half on the bench, and by the time those four minutes and 39 seconds had ticked off the clock, the game was all but over. With the Big Green's leading scorer -- who was honored before the game for recently scoring his 1,000th career point -- sitting on the bench, the Quakers rolled off a scoring run of epic proportions to carry them to a 82-49 win, one of their easiest victories of the year. And it all began with Gee's foul trouble. "We didn't react well to Shaun picking up his third [foul] and that's where the problem starts," Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher said. "Our problems started there, and [Penn] smelled blood." And it wasn't just from when Geoff Owens banged his chin on the floor two minutes into the game. Dartmouth's problems may have started with Gee heading to the bench but the Big Green's troubles were far from over. Penn pounced on Dartmouth and made them look like a bunch of junior varsity high school players. After leading 22-16 with 9:15 left in the first half, Dartmouth suddenly went colder than the New Hampshire weather outside. The Quakers took control at the end of the first half with a 24-3 run to lead 40-25 at the break. The run was part of a larger 45-8 stretch that continued into the second half and showed third-place Dartmouth that it is not quite ready to join the Ivy League's elite. "My head's spinning because I had a big piece of humble pie," Faucher said after the game. For a while, however, Dartmouth looked like it would give Penn a close contest -- like it had two weeks ago in Penn's 79-67 win at the Palestra. Unfortunately for the Big Green, the game lasted longer than 10 minutes, and after the first 10 minutes, they had no chance. In addition to Gee's foul trouble, Dartmouth may have been a bit tired, considering four of its starters played 40 minutes against Princeton on Friday. This was not a problem for the Quakers, whose deep bench allowed them to roll with ease. Forward Frank Brown checked in as Gee was checking out and immediately contributed to the Penn offense. Brown buried a three-pointer right after he entered the game and showed no signs of rust after not playing against Harvard the previous night. "I was happy to see Frank step up. It was a big three he made at the end of the first half and he started the second half and had some real good looks," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Our bench is critical to our success." Reserve guard Lamar Plummer and forwards Mike Sullivan and Josh Sanger also contributed to Penn's effort on both ends of the court. The fresh bodies off the bench kept Dartmouth in check as the Quakers' lead continued to increase. The bench players, however, were not the only players who kicked their games into gear near the end of the first half. After Michael Jordan scored eight of Penn's first 10 points, contributions started coming from everybody wearing a Red and Blue uniform. The last five minutes were highlighted by an Owens dunk, a Jed Ryan three-pointer and a Matt Langel runner that missed but counted when Dartmouth's Ryan Smerek interfered with the basket. Although Jordan got the Quakers going against the Big Green, Penn soon had all of its parts running together like a well-oiled machine -- one with which the Big Green could not keep up. During the run at the end of the first half, Penn pounded Dartmouth on both the offensive and defensive end to give the Big Green little hope for an upset. As the buzzer sounded to end the first half, a Langel three-pointer swished through the net. The Quakers ran into the locker room jumping and hollering. The first half was over, but Penn's run was just getting started. Picking up where they left off after the break, the Quakers put the game -- and Dartmouth's title hopes -- out of reach.

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