After a heartbreaking overtime loss to Rider that put its four game winning streak to a screeching halt, the Penn men's basketball team found its stroke once again in its third game of the Big 5 city series.
The Quakers displayed smooth ball handling and crashed the boards in their 71-47 thumping of La Salle yesterday afternoon at the Tom Gola Arena.
The Quakers (7-5, 1-2 Big 5) used two critical runs, -- one at the end of the first half and the other to start the second -- to keep the Explorers (7-8, 0-2 Big 5) from challenging their lead.
And on a day when their leading scorer was nearly ice cold from the floor, the Quakers proved that their other key players could step up and lead the offense.
"We came out ready to go," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I thought we did a good job offensively to move the basketball and defensively to prevent as many second chance opportunities."
The Quakers' offense was ignited in the first half by junior guard Tim Begley, who tallied five three-pointers for 15 points in the first half, including Penn's opening basket. The Explorers would never take the lead after the first two minutes of the game.
Begley's hot streak could not have come at a better time, as his backcourt partner, senior swingman Jeff Schiffner, was held scoreless in the first half.
"Most of [the shots] were just step-in jump shots ... a bunch of them I was left unguarded," Begley said. "You're supposed to make those."
After the Explorers cut the lead to three with 6:38 remaining in the first half, the Quakers went on a 10-0 run, capped by two Begley threes, and took an eight-point lead into halftime.
The Red and Blue stormed out of the locker room in the second half, going on a 17-4 spurt to push La Salle out of striking distance.
Penn took a commanding 57-34 lead on Begley's sixth three of the game with 12:30 to play. The Explorers never got within 13 points for the rest of the contest, as they were held to just 17 points on 19.4 percent shooting in the second half.
The Quakers were also able to hold La Salle's leading scorer, sophomore Gary Neal, to just 12 points on 3-for-15 shooting, as Schiffner made up for his poor shooting performance with tight defense on Neal for most of the night.
"I thought we switched out on Gary a few times, which really helped us," Dunphy said. "It certainly was a focus of ours to not let him get a lot of points on us."
While La Salle's offense was struggling in the second half, Penn was able to take advantage, running its offensive sets with crisp passes and fluid ball movement.
On one possession in the second half, all five Penn players touched the ball at least twice after two offensive rebounds, eventually resulting in a wide open layup by freshman Mark Zoller from a dish from senior Charlie Copp.
"I hope it's a signature of ours, I hope that's how we play that we want a lot of people to touch it," Dunphy said. "We like to have great balance, whether it's inside or outside."
Begley finished with a career-high 20 points and seven rebounds, going 6-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Schiffner tallied just five points, his second lowest output this season. In particular, the senior captain struggled from beyond the arc -- shooting 1-for-10.
But the big story on offense was Penn's inside presence, which was severely lacking in the Quakers' overtime loss to Rider last Saturday.
While the Red and Blue allowed 19 points off of offensive rebounds against Rider, Penn tallied 29 second-chance points against La Salle, while outrebounding the Explorers 49-36.
"Tonight was a nice opportunity for us to score second-chance points," Dunphy said. "We tried to shut that down at the other end."
Zoller and senior Adam Chubb both recorded double-doubles, with Zoller recording career-highs in points and rebounds with 14 and 10, respectively. Chubb finished with 11 points and 11 boards.
The Quakers also used a variety of different lineups throughout the first half, with freshmen Steve Danley and Ryan Pettinella substituting for Chubb and Zoller.
The lone bright spot for the Explorers was the performance of forward Steven Smith. The sophomore led his team with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Penn has won 11 of the last 13 games against La Salle.
