Jeff Schiffner extended his streak on the first possession of the second half last night.
He did it with a risky, off-balance heave as the shot clock was winding down.
Schiffner's three-pointer swished, of course -- making it eight straight games and 26 of 27 that he's made at least one three. The last game he didn't hit one was Feb. 22 in a win at Dartmouth. Before that, a loss at Delaware on Dec. 3, 2002.
While Schiffner is the most dangerous weapon the Quakers have, he's not Penn's only option. Part of the reason that Schiffner led the nation in three-point percentage last year was because teams had to guard against Penn's inside threats of Koko Archibong and Ugonna Onyekwe.
Although those two are gone, the Quakers need to stick to last season's gameplan of driving and penetrating.
Against a young Drexel squad last night, the Quakers struggled in the first few minutes. It wasn't until just over 10 minutes into the game that a Penn big man scored in the paint.
Six-foot-eight freshman Steven Danley took a Tim Begley pass right up, hitting an easy layup punctuated with a foul. He missed the free throw, but sophomore Friedrich Ebede was able to follow it up for another easy bucket.
Minutes later, Danley would complete a three-point play on a similarly easy layup/foul combination.
Senior Adam Chubb scored six points in the final three minutes of the first half -- two in the paint and four of them on free throws after being fouled inside. It all added up to an 11-point halftime lead.
Penetrating is "always our first option," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Let's go inside first, let the defense collapse and kick it out again."
A Drexel run late in the game cut the deficit to six with plenty of time left.
Sure, Drexel played some better defense -- "we did a better job in the second half of making them work for shots," Dragons' coach Bruiser Flint said -- but the Quakers' second-half struggles were mainly caused by too much ball movement and not enough inside game.
In the end, the stretch that really put it away was simply a return to the play that blew the game open in the first half.
With Penn clinging to a 63-57 lead, a drive and a kickout led to another Schiffner three. Charlie Copp hit a backdoor layup a few minutes later.
"I thought we got away from [penetrating] for a stretch in the second half," Dunphy said. "I had to say, 'let's go back to what has gotten us this lead.' That's the disappointing thing about the game."
In the loss to Wisconsin on Friday, the Quakers couldn't get inside. They looked much better last night.
Sure, Drexel's big men aren't Wisconsin's, but neither are the Ivy League's. Drexel is no powerhouse, but its size up front is similar to that of most of the Ancient Eight teams.
If it's a primer for the season, the Quakers might be alright this year.
Penn is a great shooting team. The Quakers will, and should, take plenty of threes this year. But they don't have the firepower to just sit back and bomb.
It's going to take performances from the big men for the Quakers to win this year. Last night, Adam Chubb dropped 19 points. With Jan Fikiel in foul trouble, Danley scored nine in a reserve roll.
If non-conference games are the foundation for an Ivy title run, the Quakers poured themselves a truckload of concrete last night.
