Quakers engineer 13-point win

In the past two nights, the Palestra has been the home of two offensive explosions. Just a night after its female counterparts tallied a season-high 91 in a victory over Drexel, the Penn men's basketball team did a little scoring of its own. The Quakers (5-10) poured in 87 against Lehigh (8-10). It was a season-high for the men, and enough to top the Engineers by 13 points. But for the Red and Blue, offense did not equal consistency. Penn had many lapses throughout the game, including a stretch in the second half in which it allowed the Engineers to crawl back into the game. The Quakers, who at one point built up a 14-point first-half lead, went into the half with a comfortable 37-27 advantage. But a revitalized Lehigh squad sprinted out of the locker room, using a pesky full-court press to get back into the game. In the first 3:32 of the second half, the Engineers churned out 14 unanswered points to take a 41-37 lead. It was not until Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe hit a long jumper four minutes into the half that the Quakers got on the board. "I wish I knew why we came out in the second half so poorly," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We need to be a more consistent basketball team." But while consistency may be lacking, Penn still has enough talent to dominate for stretches. With 11:13 left in the game, Lehigh held a slight 49-45 lead. Less than five minutes later, the Quakers were up 13 and the game was all but over. "I was disappointed when they broke the game open," Lehigh coach Sal Mentessana said. "Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it." The game-breaking 23-9 Penn run was led by senior guard Lamar Plummer, who drilled three three-pointers, including two open ones on consecutive trips down the floor that capped the run and sent Mentessana into a frenzy. "When Plummer made those threes... it was like a dagger in the heart," Mentessana said. After the Lehigh coach burned a timeout and temporarily pulled sophomore guard Matt Logie -- who led the Engineers with 15 points on the night -- the Quakers cruised to the finish line. Plummer and fellow senior Geoff Owens scored all but four of Penn's final 27 points to lead the Quakers to their second consecutive victory. But while the seniors led the second-half charge, it was the younger Quakers who exhibited athleticism and made highlight-reel worthy plays usually unseen in the Ivy League. Penn once again got solid inside play from its sophomore frontcourt duo of Onyekwe and Koko Archibong, who scored 12 and 16 points, respectively. But it was the play of a reserve member of Penn's frontcourt that raised some eyebrows. Freshman forward Adam Chubb, who has seen his playing time steadily increase lately, contributed 12 points and nine rebounds -- five of them offensive -- in 24 minutes of action. "Adam's going to be a real good basketball player," Dunphy said. "He's doing the little things -- like making 8-of-9 from the free-throw line." To go along with his stellar free-throw shooting and his game-high nine rebounds, Chubb also displayed a lot of athletic ability, which included a monster one-handed slam off a Plummer miss just four minutes into the game. The young guns in Penn's backcourt also stepped up for the Red and Blue's first home game in 11 days. Despite committing a game-high six turnovers, sophomore point guard Dave Klatsky recorded a career-high in assists, with nine. And off the bench, fellow sophomore guard Duane King was just 3-of-10 from the field, but skyed for four offensive rebounds in just 16 minutes of play. The Quakers featured an all-around balanced offensive attack as five players scored in double figures. At times, Penn was explosive on the offensive end and, to an extent, somewhat dominant. But as the Quakers head into the bulk of their Ivy League schedule, last night's game showed they still have to work on becoming more consistent. "It's got to be 40 minutes," Owens said. "It's got to be every possession."

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