The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student-run nonprofit.

Please support us by disabling your ad blocker on our site.

11132010_basketballvsdavisonpete099
Penn basketball starts off Jerome Allen's first year as head coach with a win against Davidson. Notable players were Miles Cartwright, Jack Eggleston, Zack Rosen, and Conor Turley. Credit: Pete Lodato

On January 24, 2007, Penn basketball won its last game against a Philadelphia opponent. Fran Dunphy was on the floor coaching, but not for Penn — he had moved on to Temple and would lose that night by just two points to a team he had largely assembled.

Saturday night, the Quakers (1-1) open another year of play against Philadelphia teams with a home match against Drexel (1-0).

After a tough loss to Manhattan Wednesday, Penn is looking to recover and snap a three-year, 16-game losing streak within the City 6.

And while Philly hoops diehards may deny the existence of an expanded Big 5 that includes Drexel, the Dragons have made it clear they belong, defeating Penn each of the last three years and downing St. Joseph’s two seasons ago.

“The City 6 is legitimate,” Penn coach Jerome Allen said. “It has its own life, so to speak. It’s going to be tough — just like all the Big 5 games.”

Glen Miller, the man who won that night against Dunphy, is gone and left Penn with its worst season in program history. In his place is Allen — the embodiment of the “workman’s attitude” he says surrounds Philadelphia hoops.

“The fact that we haven’t beaten Drexel in the past couple years says that they’ve represented themselves well, not only in Philadelphia, but throughout the nation,” Allen said.

The coach sees Saturday’s matchup as the biggest game of the year, but only in that it’s the next game on the Quakers’ schedule.

“Hopefully we can get back on track sooner than later,” he said. “We have our first opportunity Saturday.”

That opportunity comes with a Drexel team that lost its leading scorer and rebounder from last season. Would-be senior Jamie Harris was suspended indefinitely from the University after being charged this summer in an alleged armed-robbery along with fellow Dragon Kevin Phillip.

Stepping up in Harris’ wake is sophomore Chris Fouch, who followed Harris 14.5 points per game last year with 11.3. In his debut this season, Fouch scored 23 points to lead the Dragons past Loyola (Md.).

Meanwhile, the Quakers are coming off a disappointing loss to Manhattan, where they gave up 17 straight points to end — and lose — the game on the road.

“We took some possessions off and we can’t afford to do that, not at this level,” Allen said.

As play begins against rival local teams, that level is raised.

“It’s one of the best traditions of basketball in the country.” said freshman forward Fran Dougherty, a New Britain, Pa., native. “I grew up wishing to play in here.”

And while Dougherty would be ecstatic to end the losing streak to the City 6, he’s a stickler for Philly’s basketball tradition.

“It’s been the Big 5 for way too long,” he said, “so I don’t really consider it the City 6.”

Comments powered by Disqus

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.