Every time La Salle got close, the Penn men's basketball team had a response.
In one of several turning points, Ibby Jaaber's three-pointer with just over 11 minutes to play transformed a tenuous one-point lead into a 55-51 advantage, and the Quakers (4-2) cruised from there on out to a 78-67 victory over the Explorers (1-3).
"One of the nice things was that when it got very close I thought we answered a couple times," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "When it does get tight you'd like to see some very good players step up and do good things and I think we did that."
In addition to Jaaber, both senior Tim Begley and sophomore Mark Zoller answered the call when things got close for the Quakers.
Though Penn led from wire to wire, La Salle kept the pressure on for much of the game. With 30 seconds left in the first half, the Explorers cut Penn's lead to 36-32 on a jumper by Mike St. John. Begley, however, responded by hitting a three with three seconds left to swell the lead to seven at halftime.
The senior captain let out a yell and pumped his fist, later calling that shot a huge momentum-turner.
Indeed that shot was an omen for the second half, as Begley scored 21 points -- including six three-pointers -- in the second stanza. Overall, he scored a career-high 29 points on 8-for-11 shooting from downtown. In addition, Begley collected eight rebounds and dished out seven assists, both game-highs.
La Salle head coach John Giannini called Begley "tremendous" and switched among two different zones and a man-to-man defense in order to stop him.
None proved effective.
"We played three defenses. None of them worked particularly well," Giannini said. "To Penn's credit and to our fault a number of Begley's shots were wide open."
Perhaps the most spectacular play of the game was a prayer that Begley put up falling out of bounds with the shot clock expiring. It swished in.
It was just that kind of day for the Freehold, N.J., native, who said his game was raised on the big stage of the triple-header.
"Playing in the Big 5, with all these people around, you want to prove to people you're one of the best shooters around," Begley said.
Despite the offensive barrage from the senior, La Salle was able to keep it close thanks to forward Steven Smith's 24-point performance.
Smith "is a very good basketball player," Dunphy said. "He did what he had to do to keep his team right where they needed to be."
Indeed, Smith hit a three pointer to bring La Salle within one point of Penn before Jaaber's clutch three.
To set up the momentous shot, Jaaber corralled an offensive rebound on a hustle play, then tipped the ball out to teammate Michael Kach.
Jabber "made some really big plays for us," Dunphy said. And referring to his tip, the coach said that "those kinds of things are what we need to get from Ibby on a pretty consistent basis."
Jaaber finished with 13 points and four steals, while his classmate Zoller recorded 11 points in only 20 minutes on the floor.
The Blue Bell, Pa., native was hampered by foul trouble and an injured ankle. Nevertheless, Dunphy praised Zoller afterwards for his aggressive style of play.
"He does a good job of creating havoc out there," Dunphy said. "We'll take him at 75 or 80 [percent] if he gives us the kind of numbers he's given us."
In the end, Giannini believed Penn's mental toughness was the key to resisting all of La Salle's runs.
"We went up against a very sound team, a team that does not beat themselves," he said.
To Begley, his career performance was merely something that his teammates could build off of.
"When you see somebody else making a good play out there you kind of get a little momentum for yourself," he said. "For us to win games everybody has to step up and make shots and I think that's what we did."
