Game 3 — Rider: The Good, Bad & Ugly

Entering Thursday's game at Rider, the Quakers were 1-5 in overtime games over the last two seasons. But now they can add a 'W' to that OT win column — but more importantly in the 2012 season win column — after downing Rider, 78-72 last night in Lawrenceville, N.J. Tyler Bernardini said the win was a testament to their maturity this early in the season, noting that last season overtime losses really got them down and were difficult to overcome. Thursday night was as good a test as any to see if Penn can bounce back from a tough loss, and showing resiliency through 45 minutes certainly says something.

The Good: A win, of course. But more importantly, an evenly spread offense. Zack Rosen didn't even attempt a shot throughout the first half, as Fran Dougherty had 8 points and both Miles Cartwright and Tyler Bernardini had 7. I got the impression that Rosen was instructed to hand the ball off more after accounting for nearly 40% of Penn's offensive output in the first two games. Then, when he needed to take some shots, he stepped up. Once Rosen started shooting, Cartwright's shots seemed to fall as well — the sophomore had a career-high 27 points.

The Bad: Allowing Rider to make runs and get ahead. The Broncs went on a 12-2 run during the last few minutes of the first half (while Rosen was sitting on the bench in early foul trouble) to turn a 22-16 deficit into a 28-14 halftime lead. Midway through the second half, Rider almost got away as well before making some mistakes that allowed Penn to get back into the game. Rider is a tired, yet tough and talented team, but no where near the caliber of some other squads on Penn's schedule. The Quakers can't allow such momentum shifts against top-tier opponents in the future.

The Ugly: All three forwards fouling out. Dougherty fouled out toward the end of regulation, Mike Howlett was out after the first play of overtime, and freshman Henry Brooks picked up his fifth foul midway through overtime (after scoring four crucial points). The refs were nit-picky, but certainly none of the calls were egregious. By the end of the game, Jerome Allen had 5 guards on the court.