Penn falls to La Salle, 76-57

Penn could have used a head-start Wednesday night, as they fell behind from the tip-off and stayed there for the remainder of the night.

But the rules don’t allow it, and the Quakers fell 76-57 to Big 5 opponent La Salle at the Palestra.

The defeat was Penn’s 12th consecutive loss against Big 5 opponents, marking another disappointing record set by the struggling Quakers.

Within the first six minutes, the Explorers (10-8, 1-1 Big 5) jumped to an 11-point lead, spreading the ball around to forwards Jerrell Williams and Steve Weingarten, as well as the dominant guard, Rodney Green.

This deficit was the underlying story of the game as the Quakers (1-12, 0-3) trailed La Salle by about 10 points for the majority of the night.

While the Quakers paralleled their performance in last week’s bout with Temple, in which they kept it close through the second half, they once again failed to close out the win.

It was 6-foot-10 freshman center Aaric Murray who helped keep the Explorers on top. The rookie scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds over the Quakers.

Penn struggled to compete with the Explorers’ height in the lane, and La Salle’s big men were able to capitalize on the advantage with Williams and Weingarten supplementing Murray’s offensive storm with a combined 22 points. They were assisted by La Salle senior Rodney Green, whose 15 points included a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

And the big man has touch too. Murray shot 3-for-4 from downtown and hit both of his free throws.

“He is very versatile,” said La Salle coach John Giannini during a postgame interview. “He’s so talented, and you certainly expect him to be great.”

Though Giannini said that Murray is still adapting to collegiate play, he added that the freshman is now finding his way in the Explorers’ system, calling him “comfortable” and “aggressive.”

This was certainly the case Wednesday night.

Besting Murray’s 21 points was Penn sophomore guard Zack Rosen, who nearly matched his career-high 30 points. Rosen threw down 29, hitting 5-for-11 from behind the arc.

Rosen’s stellar performance drew praise from his own coach as well as the opposite end of the court.

“Zack was tremendous,” Giannini said.

Unfortunately for Penn, nobody else could seem to find the iron, with junior Jack Eggleston coming in at a distant second with seven points on the night.

Junior Dan Monckton continued to see more playing time, putting in 25 minutes off the bench, but couldn’t match his last two breakout performances at Temple and UMBC, only netting six points and one rebound.

Just as the Quakers and Explorers were getting comfortable trading twos halfway through the second period, a glimmer of hope came for Penn fans as the team pulled within five, the closest they had been since the game’s opening minutes.

Rob Belcore started the jazz with a surprise three-pointer. On the ensuing La Salle possession, junior Conor Turley secured a block, and senior Darren Smith made a lay-in to make the score 48-53.

But a pair of fouls combined with missed jumpers by Penn allowed the Explorers to regain their lead, and they never looked back.

According to Giannini, “the final score was not at all indicative of how close the game was.”

But despite the visible effort from the embattled Quakers, the final score was not kind to them.

As Rosen put it after the game, “the only stat that matters is the ‘W’ or the ‘L.’”

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