Quakers bounce back against Lafayette

After grabbing just 19 rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Drexel — the fewest since coach Fran Dunphy left the program in 2006 — the Quakers knew they needed a better showing.

And Tuesday night, that sharper defensive effort and a stellar second-half brought the Quakers a 74-65 win over Lafayette.

Penn (2-2) was led once again by junior Zack Rosen, who had 16 points and eight rebounds on the night.

And after three games back from injury, senior Tyler Bernardini appeared to have regained the shot that made him so deadly his freshman year, hitting 5-for-9, including a trifecta.

Penn was able to work the ball inside more effectively in the first half than in past outings, but when the Quakers got into the paint, few short shots fell in.

The team shot 45.5 percent before the break and just 30 percent from downtown. Junior forward Jack Eggleston, who has recorded two double-doubles this year, was just 2-for-6 in the first stanza.

For the second straight game, Penn had the final possession of the half but failed to capitalize, heading into the locker room after an Eggleston air ball, trailing 36-29.

But the Red and Blue came back in the second stanza and retook the lead seven minutes into the half. Aggressive play on both sides of the ball was the key to the Quakers turnaround.

“Whether it was a pass to the post or a dribble-drive, the first couple games we’ve been a little passive, a little three-happy, and that’s not the game we want to play,” Rosen said. “It felt like we were in the paint more today.”

And as the half wore on, the Quakers looked less and less like the team that dropped its last two games in the waning minutes and more like the contender many expected them to be before the season began.

“At halftime, we talked about defending, getting one stop at a time,” coach Jerome Allen said. “We won the basketball game because we put together consecutive stops.”

Allen’s emphasis on defense led to 16 second-half rebounds, and the Quakers scored 21 points off turnovers overall.

With the momentum building, the shots began to fall — both in the paint and out — and the Quakers pulled away, at one point leading by 13.

Penn outscored the Leopards by 16 in the second half.

According to Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon, who was an assistant at Penn when Allen was a player, the difference between this year’s Penn squad and the one he beat handily last year is clear: “Bernardini, Miles Cartwright, Andreas Schreiber,” he said. “They had a component there that they didn’t have last year.”

While Cartwright didn’t put up big numbers offensively, his defensive effort — a block and five rebounds — stymied the Leopards on attack.

Schreiber, for his part, scored 10 points in just 15 minutes of play, shooting 4-for-5 from the floor, but only tallying one rebound in the post for Penn.

“Dre is a big body,” Allen said. “When he takes his time and relaxes, he’s tough to guard. … But most importantly from him, we need a consistent effort on the defensive end. If he can give us that and rebound the ball, I think he’ll make us a much better team.”

Penn will now spend the Thanksgiving holiday preparing for its matchup with No. 5 Pitt on Saturday.

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