It wasn't pretty.

It's a good thing that glamour points don't go next to the score because, despite the Quakers' 50-44 win last night against Delaware, it almost hurt to watch the number of bricks thrown up in the Palestra.

"It was kind of an ugly game, but any time we can get a win, we'll take it," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

And the Quakers (11-4) are more than happy to have notched another victory last night after barely eking out a win over a clearly weaker team.

For most of the contest, it appeared it would be smooth sailing for the Red and Blue. After the first timeout, which saw Penn holding a slight 10-9 margin, Delaware (7-9) would hit a wall -- the Blue Hens shot an abysmal 4-for-24 from the field for only 13 points in the first half.

The Quakers took advantage of the Blue Hens' shooting ineptitudes. Led by Ugonna Onyekwe's six points in the first half -- including the 1,000th of his Penn career -- the Quakers marched into halftime on an 11-4 run.

Delaware was not willing to go away, though.

"At halftime, coach gave the challenge to us to see who had the heart, who was afraid," Blue Hens center Robin Wentt said. "The guys who finished the game showed that they had heart, they weren't afraid."

Yet as the second half got under way, Penn seemingly continued to invoke fear into the hearts of the Blue Hens.

When Onyekwe emphatically slammed home an Toole alley-oop lob to propel the lead to 39-22 with just 6:37 left in the game, many of the Penn faithful thought that the game was all but over.

But, with the game slipping out of its grasp, Delaware finally decided to show up for the last six minutes.

Storming back after one of the worst halves in Delaware basketball history, the Blue Hens slowly began to reverse Penn's momentum by starting a full court press.

"In the second half, we started picking up full court and getting some easy buckets," Delaware guard Austen Roland said. "I think that's what sparked us to get some easy buckets in the halfcourt."

Roland tallied four steals throughout the game, including one which helped to jumpstart the 22-11 Delaware run for the last six minutes of the game.

But it would be too little, too late.

Despite an atrocious 12-for-24 night at the line for Penn, which included an uncharacteristic 4-for-8 from Jeff Schiffner, Andy Toole iced the lead by hitting two free throws with nine seconds left to bring the Quakers the victory.

Schiffner wasn't the only one struggling to hit. The Quakers tallied a measly 16 field goals during the entire contest, with their 50-point total being their lowest scoring output this season.

The lone bright spot on the floor for the Red and Blue was Onyekwe, who contributed 15. In addition to being the team's leading scorer -- and only player to score in double digits -- the junior forward also led the way for Penn on the defensive end, picking up four of the team's seven blocks.

"Defensively, I certainly wouldn't want to be guarded by him," Dunphy said. "He's long and quick and has good reactions, and it's difficult to get around him."

With several starters having off nights from the field, nine players in the game played double figure minutes, with the 10th, Adam Chubb, playing nine.

"My assistants keep telling me that that is the way we should play all the time," Dunphy said. "This was a nice chance for a couple of those guys to play.... We got good help off the bench."

After beating Delaware, Penn will continue non-conference play with three straight non-league opponents. Monday the Quakers tip off against Lafayette.

"Ivy League games and non-league games are very different," Onyekwe said. "It's good to have this stretch now where you can fine-tune some of the things we need to get better on. Our team can't make any mistakes when we get into the league."

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