Penn - La Salle notebook: Game an unbelievably close affair

For fans of either side, Penn's Big 5 win over La Salle last night involved many moments where you wanted to tear your hair out, and others when you had to be careful not to punch the fan standing in front of you in the back of the head in jubilation. But from a neutral standpoint, it was a back-and-forth see-saw battle with a torrid pace that was a thrill to watch.

The most ridiculous part is how unbelievably close the game was. There were 16 lead changes and eight ties in total, but what was particularly amazing was what happened in the final quarter.

Starting with Brennan Votel's layup with 11:54 remaining in the second half to cut Penn's deficit to 63-61, until Ibrahim Jaaber's runner with 14 seconds to go, it was entirely a one-possession game. That is no exaggeration, there were 55 total points scored, but at no time was either team up by more than three. Both squads just traded baskets until the Quakers could finally get a stop.

Maybe I'm cocky because of all of this ESPN student spirit stuff, but the La Salle fans were terrible at tonight's game. I will give them credit because of how many regular students (not pure basketball fans) showed up to support their school, but even many of them showed up after tipoff.

And the regular student section was fairly passionate but lacked any cleverness or creativity whatsoever. They had chants such as "let's go offense" and "let's go defense", but not other regular chants that were remotely interesting.
During the starting lineups, for their freshman starter Rodney Green they all chanted "he's a freshman!" And during his uninspired night (nine points, one rebound and no assists) following a second three by Penn's Darren Smith, the Penn fans countered with "he's a freshman!" The only comeback the Explorer Entourage could come up with was "we don't give a shit." Not one bit hypocritical. They also played a "hey, you suck" chant while their team was losing, and did a "scoreboard" chant around halftime with a single-digit lead.

I've already rambled about the fans, but I have to vent -- that was clearly not what bothered me the most about the La Salle fans. With 12 seconds left the majority of the fans started to file out of Tom Gola Arena, which doesn't sound bad, but their team was down only five with the ball! Their chances of winning were still reasonable, and after a quick two cut the lead to 92-89, had Grandieri missed the front end of the 1-and-1, then that three-pointer at the buzzer would have tied it.

Also, almost more shocking, is that a certain famous La Salle basketball alum walked right by the student section, but didn't seem to get noticed by a single person. I could see if this was the Hornets' Rasual Butler, but it was last year's stud Steven Smith! Smith had a stint with the Sixers earlier this year, and going into his senior year at La Salle in 2005-06 had the potential to be an NBA first-round pick. But I guess it's good the Explorers don't live in the past, then they'd realize they haven't beaten Penn since 2000.

While Darren Smith could have been the player of the game for Penn as he came off the bench in the second half to hit some big shots and play great defense on La Salle sharpshooter Darnell Harris, but Jaaber also had a tremendous game, especially on the offensive end.

The senior co-captain has evolved into a point guard, and it was evident yesterday. Jaaber went a blistering 11-of-16 from the field for 27 points and nine assists. Oh, and he played all 40 minutes. Jaaber pushed the ball whenever he got a chance, and the Explorers' transition defense on him was lacking. The Quakers' point guard dribbled with his head on a swivel, always seeing the floor and finding an open man, but still finding ways to create for himself. When the team needed a boost, he alone went on a 7-0 run to cut a double-digit lead down to three.