M. Hoops | And the streak goes on

With 24 seasons of Big 5 hostilities in his memory bank, Phil Martelli knows full well what the Philadelphia fan is capable of.

Which helps explain why the Saint Joseph's coach might have expected worse from an electric sellout crowd at the Palestra Saturday night.

"I didn't hear one time tonight how bald I am," he said. "My wife, I think, yelled one time, but that was it."

Indeed, while Martelli's hairline remains in full retreat, his Hawks are surging, securing their sixth straight victory with an 80-68 triumph over the Quakers (4-10). The loss was Penn's ninth straight in the Big 5.

"It gives you chills, really," Martelli said of the raucous crowd. "Saturday night at the Palestra - that's Philadelphia basketball."

Designated the visitors in this "double home game" - the Hawks (11-7) are using the Palestra as their home gym this season - the Red and Blue thrived in the role of vindictive landlord early on, drilling 10 of their first 17 shots to seize a 24-8 lead.

In less than three minutes, though, St. Joe's reeled off five three-pointers and a two over six madcap possessions - while holding the Quakers scoreless - to storm to a 29-27 lead late in the half. Reserve forward Bryant Irwin drained all three of his long-distance attempts during the stretch to tally all nine of his points.

"They got their wheels going and got out in transition," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "The three-point shot will get you back in the game quick."

Shortly after St. Joe's 17-0 run, Miller picked up his second technical foul in as many games for arguing an offensive foul call against senior Brennan Votel.

After the game, Miller artfully alluded to the men in stripes within the confines of press conference political correctness.

"Whenever [someone] asks a question about officiating, you know you can't even say what you want to say," Miller reasoned. "If you see the same thing that you might think I saw, then just write it, instead of having me say it and get in trouble."

Yet despite these frustrations following St. Joe's three-point barrage, there was no quit in the "visiting" squad. While the Quakers never rediscovered their offensive fluidity from the early going, they overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to reclaim the lead, 60-59, on a Votel jump shot with 7:37 to go.

"Effort and defense has kind of been our focus," said sophomore Tyler Bernardini, who led Penn with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 5-for-19 from the field in the face of swarming St. Joe's ball pressure. "Hopefully you'll be seeing that throughout the rest of the season."

Looking to pull away in the closing minutes, the Hawks ran the offense through senior big man Ahmad Nivins, whose averages of over 20 points and 11 rebounds place him among the nation's leaders.

On this night, Nivins dominated the interior in typical fashion, totaling 20 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots despite facing constant double teams from the Quakers.

"He's the best player in the city," Martelli said, "and there's a lot of good players."

Naturally, Miller is relieved to be rid of Philadelphia's elite - at least for this season.

"With all due respect to the better teams in the Ivy League," he said, "they're not as good as St. Joe's. They're not as good as Villanova or Temple."

Maybe not, but the passage of another Big 5 season means something else for Penn as well: No more boisterous turnouts for city turf wars.

"Come on, seriously," Martelli opined between sips of Pepsi. "It's Saturday night in January. It's really, really cold out . and it's full. And people are screaming the whole game. The thing that I love about this is mutual respect."

The "'Nova rejects!" chants emanating from the Penn student section must have escaped him.