Game 21 - Columbia: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

After three straight overtime losses, the Quakers found themselves in New York City with the chance to stop the skid. Instead, Penn succumbed to a second half run by Columbia and lost 75-62.

The Good: Cameron Gunter's solid line of 12 points (4-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the line) and 3 boards. Red and Blue fans would probably like to see some more rebounds out of the big fella — Penn got destroyed on the glass in general, more on that later — but he gave Penn some good minutes and his best production by far of the season. He had been scoreless on the season up until this point (45 mins of burn - or what you might call lately, an "Eggleston.") Gunter's presence lifted Penn in the first half and his length and activity bothered some of Columbia's penetrating guards. Tall order, literally, to task the freshman with clearing out Columbia's 6'9, 245 Mark Cisco and 7'0, 265 Max Craig, but he definitely showed Coach Allen something.

See more after the jump.

The Bad: Columbia's 10-0 run to start the 2nd half. With the game tied at 35-apiece going into the half, it looked like this one was going to be another close finish. However, the Lions stormed out to a double-digit lead early in the second half, thanks to a few momentum-building shots by Noruwa Agho. Agho scored 8 of the 10 points during the run, and finished with 15 in the second period. For the most part, Penn did a good job defending him; he made some tough shots, but that's what scorers do.

The Ugly: 13-2. That was the offensive rebounding edge held by Columbia. It's tough to get into a rhythm offensively when you have to defend for multiple possessions at a time, and Columbia's ability to get extra opportunities was surely a key. Offensive rebounds is one of those hustle categories, and I'll definitely grant that Penn's disadvantage could be attributable to a size difference (Asenso Ampim at 6'6, 245 is a bull down low, and the aforementioned Cisco and Craig eat up alot of space), but for Penn to win the battle under the boards, they would have had to have so much more energy than Columbia. After the string of draining overtime losses, that was not the case.