With Penn coming off a tough-to-swallow loss at Rider, La Salle coach Billy Hahn saw the writing on the wall. But there was little that he could do before or during the game yesterday to stop Penn's concerted effort to avoid a losing streak.
"I know they couldn't wait to play again," the Explorers head man said. "I knew that was going to happen, I tried to explain that to our basketball team."
With a little more than two minutes to go in the game at Rider, the Quakers held a seven-point advantage, but managed to squander their lead and fall to the Broncs in overtime.
"Those are the ones that stay with you for a long time, they're hard to get rid of," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.
Yesterday, Penn did its best to move on from the disappointing loss.
The Quakers seized a 3-1 lead with a Tim Begley three-pointer with less than two minutes into the contest and never surrendered it.
Penn very well might have held the lead for the entire game if Adam Chubb would have dunked the ball instead of opting for a very short jumper on the Red and Blue's first possession.
Dunphy was puzzled himself by Chubb's decision.
"I don't know what it feels like to dunk, but it's got to be a hell of an experience," Dunphy said.
Nonetheless, it certainly seems that the Quakers learned from their worst loss on the season as they ended the game up by 24 points -- the largest differential of the entire game.
The Quakers clearly did not want to wait a week until their next game against Temple for their chance to get back into the win column.
Penn dominated La Salle statistically -- outshooting La Salle from the field, 42.6 percent to the Explorers' 25.0. The Quakers also outrebounded their city rivals by 13.
The numbers don't begin to tell the whole story, as it was clear that the Quakers were playing with an edge that showed itself in Mark Zoller hitting the floor for a loose ball or Steve Danley pumping his fist after scoring and being fouled.
"I thought they played with more passion; I thought they played with more determination than we did today," Hahn said. "They're a very good basketball team, they've played some very good basketball teams and I know how good they are."
Not only did the Quakers put forth a gritty effort in landing their first Big 5 win of the year, but once again a large cast of players was given its opportunity to contribute.
Eleven players were given playing time by Dunphy, as he continues to feel out his roster and decide how he will spread out the playing time.
"I've said this so many times: You wish you had 10 guys, they all played 20 minutes, they all scored 10 points, you'd score 100 and everything would be fine," he said. "Life doesn't work that way so you're just trying to mix and match."
Dunphy might have a problem on his hands that so many players are deserving of playing time, but it is a good problem to have.
When arguably your best player, Jeff Schiffner, goes 2-for-12 on the afternoon, it's nice to have enough depth on your squad that you can still escape with a 24-point win.
Against La Salle, Begley and Zoller stepped up in big ways, each posting career highs as the Quakers sought to put the Rider loss behind them.
"The worst thing you can do is get on a losing streak," Begley said. "Then practices get a lot harder, you start getting down on yourself a little bit. Everybody was ready to go tonight."
Penn not only avoided a losing streak in its hard-fought win over La Salle, but has built some momentum for the rest of the season.
