M. Hoops grabs win in rematch with St. Joe's

Penn - 62 St. Joseph's - 60

For the Penn men's basketball team, its second chance against Big 5 rival St. Joseph's (12-5, 0-1 Big 5) was a charm. Well, maybe not a charm, but a nail-biting victory at least. The Quakers (13-4, 3-0 Big 5), who lost to St. Joe's earlier this season, grabbed a 62-60 win, with the help of a consistent offense, strong defense and a bit of luck in the final stretch. "They are an Atlantic-10 level team," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "The mindset is that what you did was good enough the first time, but now you have to do it better. Our offense struggled the last game and certainly struggled this game." Shortly after tipoff, the Quakers jumped out to an early lead with the help of their big men - junior forwards Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong. Less than one minute into the contest Onyekwe, who finished the game with 17 points and 13 rebounds, dropped a quick field goal, shortly followed by the Quakers' favorite weapon - a three-point basket, from inside man Archibong. Despite narrowing the gap after Penn's quick start, St. Joseph's only held one lead all game, 6-5 in the first half. The two teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime tied, 29-29. The second half was an entirely different story. With only 2:59 to play, Archibong hit a jumper, giving Penn a 62-56 advantage. It would be the Quakers last points of the game. The last three minutes of the contest seemed to drag on for a lifetime, as the Quakers watched their six-point lead dwindle at the hands of St. Joe's guard Marvin O'Connor, who finished with 29 points and eight rebounds, and center Damian Reid. The final two minutes "was a very long time, no question about it," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. With 1:54 to go, the Hawks capitalized on a missed field goal from Penn guard Andrew Toole, as Reid sunk an easy layup on the ensuing possession, cutting the St. Joe's deficit to only four. On their next offensive trip, Hawks forward Bill Phillips stole the ball from Toole and tossed the ball to O'Connor, who drew the foul from Onyekwe. At the line, O'Connor did his job, sinking both free throws in a clutch situation. What happened in the last 1:33 was absolute mayhem, a blur of possessions from one end of the court to the other with a few free throws interspersed. Following three St. Joe's possessions in which the Hawks failed to sink a basket, Onyekwe stepped up, grabbing the rebound all three times. Although he created the chances, Onyekwe was unable to convert them, missing six free throws in a row in the final 30 seconds. "Ugonna is getting better as a foul shooter and he did a tremendous job getting all of those rebounds," Dunphy said. "I think he'll learn from this and I think we got a little bit fortunate, but we'll take it." With less than two seconds to play, Archibong fouled St. Joe's Na'im Crenshaw, sending the junior guard to the foul line for a one-and-one. Crenshaw failed to hit his first free throw, but teammate O'Connor snatched the rebound and threw up a last second, desperate shot that hit the rim. St. Joe's center Alexandre Sazanov tipped the ball into the net, but after much deliberation, the referees ruled that the basket came after the buzzer went off. "It was a phenomenal atmosphere out there," Toole said. "The energy and the intensity was unbelievable. To come out and win makes it even more special." The Quakers are now 3-0 in the Big 5. If they beat LaSalle Tuesday evening, it will be their first outright Big 5 title since 1973-74.

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