Penn basketball loses fourth straight, 76-67 to Temple

There’s a lot of history in the Big 5. That’s an understatement.

For the past few years, it hasn’t looked kindly toward Penn. Coach Jerome Allen has only managed two Big 5 wins in his coaching career.

In their first Big 5 game of the season, the Quakers were unable to pull it out, falling 76-67 to Temple in a close, foul-filled contest.

For the first few minutes of Tuesday’s game against Temple (3-2), it seemed to be the same old story. The Owls jumped ahead to an early lead, 12-2 and appeared poise to wipe the floors with the Quakers (0-4).

Yet Penn wasn’t ready to roll over and mounted a comeback, going on a 15-5 run to tie things up at 17 midway through the half. After keeping things close for most of the half, the Owls would pull away with a late 14-5 run.

Playing without freshman forward Mike Auger (foot injury), sophomore forward Dylan Jones saw his fair share of minutes off the bench in the first half, scoring six. Jones’ emphatic and-one dunk was key to the Quakers’ mid-half run.

However, foul trouble would plague Jones and proved to be a recurring story line throughout.

Sophomore guard Tony Hicks, fresh off of a 13-assist performance against Lafayette, took over the scoring load and netted 15 of his 17 points in the first half. However, down the stretch fouls caught up to him and he fouled out with six minutes remaining.

The Quakers were able to stay within striking distance of Temple throughout, but the Owls held on late to secure the victory.

An encouraging sign for the Quakers was the emergence of sophomore guard/forward Matt Howard, who had his most productive game of the season.

After ending his freshman campaign early due to injury, Howard notched 15 points against the Owls and showed sparks of what he was producing for the Red and Blue last year.

Penn will travel up to Staten Island over Thanksgiving break for their next game against Wagner.

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