There’s no rest for Penn men’s basketball.
While many flocked away from Philadelphia to enjoy Thanksgiving break, Penn men’s basketball stayed in the City of Brotherly Love to host the fourth edition of its annual Cathedral Classic. The tournament included four teams: Hofstra, Merrimack, La Salle, and Penn.
Over the course of three games in three days, the Quakers notched a 2-1 record with a 77-65 win against Merrimack, a 73-71 nail-biting victory against fellow Big 5 conference member La Salle, and a 77-60 loss against Hofstra in its final Sunday game.
Let’s break down three takeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s weekend:
The bigs are developing
Freshman forward/center Dalton Scantlebury continues to be a force to be reckoned with as the season progresses. After a strong debut in Penn’s season opener against Division III Rowan, Scantlebury notched a game-high and career-high 22 points — shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the field against Merrimack. He also cleaned up the glass with eight of his 13 total rebounds on the offensive end.
While Scantlebury had a quieter next two games, he was crucial in creating offensive momentum in the first half against La Salle and picked up five offensive rebounds against Hofstra. In the latter game, the Quakers racked up nearly 20 points from second-chance opportunities.
Junior forward Augustus Gerhart also had an overall strong weekend, going three-for-three shots from the field against Merrimack and cleaning up the glass with a game-high of seven rebounds on Saturday while playing under 20 minutes in each matchup.
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It’s becoming a team effort
While these past couple weeks have been mainly a show of junior forward TJ Power and senior guard/forward Ethan Roberts, with some firepower from senior guard/forward Michael Zanoni, some newcomers this season shined this weekend. Making scoring a team effort will be helpful as the season progresses to lessen the burden of scoring on the duo.
“I thought our offense looked good for the most part [against Hofstra] …We're a team that thrives on how we move and share the ball. It's obviously an unselfish group,” McCaffery said postgame on Sunday.
One face that shined this weekend was freshman guard Jay Jones, who notched his first minutes since Providence on Nov. 11. Jones made the most of his 12 minutes of play — grabbing seven points, three rebounds, an assist and two steals, integral contributions in the thriller against La Salle.
“He’s just been really good,” McCaffery said about Jones on Saturday. “His attitude is great. He’s just a freshman, so it takes time, but he was really special tonight and I’m not surprised.”
Sophomore forward Lucas Lueth had himself his best game so far this season against Merrimack. Coming off the bench, Lueth grabbed nine points, four rebounds, and a blocked shot in 22 minutes on the court.
TJ Power is just getting started
Power has shown that his ceiling is higher than we’ve seen so far. In back-to-back matchups against Merrimack and La Salle, Power dropped 14 points and then an impressive 29 points, respectively.
Against the Explorers on Saturday, Power shot 10-for-17 from the field and five-for-eight from beyond the arc while playing all 40 minutes. Many were skeptical as to whether Power could play up to his former five-star recruit potential after stints with limited minutes at Duke and Virginia. His quieter start to the season coming off of a preseason injury was cause for concern, but after weeks of consistent double-digit scoring and moving smoothly on the floor, Power has shown it’s his time.
At the end of the weekend, Power was named to the all-tournament team. Power’s offensive prowess was helpful, especially with Roberts having a slower weekend by his standards.
The strong repetitions are valuable with conference play ahead, including three weekends of back-to-back matchups.
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