Penn still winless after sixth loss

Albany came into its first-ever game at the Palestra riding a three-game losing streak, including an 83-54 drubbing at rival Siena. The team had been plagued by offensive struggles, averaging just 60.7 points, overall.

So although the Great Danes had built a five-point lead about five minutes into the second half against Penn last night, it appeared the Quakers were just a few stops away from taking the lead for the first time since they led 3-2 at 17:09.

But then the Great Danes decided they wanted to pick up a victory in their first ever trip to the Cathedral of College Basketball.

Headlined by a 21-3 run, Albany dominated the majority of the second half to cruise to an easy 78-60 win.

After each team scored back-to-back threes to make it a 47-42 game with 16:54, the next 10 minutes were all Albany, as the visitors jumped out to a 68-45 lead with 6:56 left.

So how exactly were the Great Danes able to get out of the dog house after their recent skid?

“Must have been the cheesesteaks,” coach Will Brown joked.

But the underlying reason is that this Penn squad (0-6) is still struggling to put together 40 minutes of consistent basketball.

“It’s imperative we play a complete basketball game on both ends of the floor,” coach Glen Miller said.

He specifically thought the defense was Penn’s more troublesome area. The Great Danes (4-6) had three players in double figures, including junior Tim Ambrose who scored a game-high 20 points. Seniors Mike Johnson (15) and Will Harris (19, including 13 after halftime) also broke the 10-point plateau.

“We focused more on our shots tonight,” Harris said. “Almost everyone was over .500 [shooting percentage].”

The Great Danes shot 54.1 percent from the field, while the Quakers struggled on the other end of the floor, shooting just 42 percent, including a 5-for-18 performance from three.

Despite an overall poor shooting effort, Penn did have several impressive offensive plays, including a thunderous Dan Monckton dunk in transition as well as a Brian Fitzpatrick slam.

Although the Quakers shot fairly well (48.1 percent) in the first half, Penn was stymied after halftime, as the Great Danes clamped down on two key Penn players in the second half: sophomores Zack Rosen and Mike Howlett.

The two scored a combined 17 of Penn’s 32 points in the first half. But the Albany defense held them to a total of just three points after halftime.

Brown emphasized the importance of stopping Rosen — who came into the game as the leading scorer for Penn — in his team’s game plan.

“We felt the more Rosen was able to get in the lane, the tougher it was going to be for us,” he said. “He’s their heart and soul.”

With last night’s loss, the Quakers are off to their worst start since they began 0-8 in 2000-01. The defeat was also the worst home loss to a non-conference foe that wasn’t a city rival or power conference squad since the Quakers lost, 96-75, to Lehigh in the 1987-88 home opener.

“They did look a little dejected,” Miller said of his squad. “But no one’s feeling sorry for us.”

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