Shaken Quakers: men's hoops pounds Penn

PHILADELPHIA — This time, no miracles were necessary. There were no game-winning desperation threes, no incredible comebacks, and a rather drawn-out finish.

Playing in the most hostile environment in the Ivy League an under -manned, under-sized, under-appreciated Princeton men's basketball team outplayed a supposedly superior Penn squad, 67-53, before a capacity crowd at the Palestra.

To begin the contest, Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe outleapt Tiger center Nate Walton and tapped the ball to teammate Geoff Owens. The opening tip, however, would be the last thing that Penn would control for the night.

On the ensuing possession, in what would serve as a microcosm for the game at large, Penn guard Lamar Plummer forced a three point shot that drew iron, and Princeton corralled the miss. Patiently - despite the chants of "boring" from the Palestra faithful - the Tigers went into their offense, and freshman forward Andre Logan converted in the paint giving Princeton a lead it would maintain for the remaining 39 minutes.

Princeton's matchup zone defense throttled the Quakers' offense during the course of the contest - especially in the first half. Penn did not score until three minutes, 50 seconds had elapsed into the game, and managed only 13 points before halftime. The combination of intense defensive play and poor outside shooting doomed Penn early in the game.

"As is the case all year, we're small — we're very small," Princeton head coach John Thompson '88 said. "We try to protect the interior as much as we can, and then identify who the shooters are. It happened to work today."

Freshmen point guard Ed Persia, as well as junior guard Ahmed El-Nokali, dictated what Penn could accomplish on the perimeter. By putting their arms into passing lanes, they forced Penn's sharpshooters to catch the ball far from the basket and then interfered with any field goals that the Quakers tried. The swarming Tigers forced Penn guards Klatsky and Plummer in poor shooting situations, where their only options were low percentage shots or passes into the paint.

Princeton's front court, however, allowed few easy baskets — often times preventing Penn from making even an entry pass. The savvy senior captain Walton used his years of experience to stymie the Quaker offense, reading Penn's slow moving pick-and-rolls and intercepting lobs into the paint. The defensive efforts of the Tiger big men were aided by rather stagnant play by their Quaker counterparts.

"We're still not exactly sure of who we are," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "We had some opportunities in the second half to close the gap. [Though] some of it was our doing and some of it was their doing — we didn't do a very good job."

Despite a Quaker starting lineup which featured three players taller than Walton, Princeton maintained an advantage on the boards the entire game. The Tigers committed all five players to crashing the glass at both ends of the court — as each Tiger who logged multiple minutes hauled in at least two rebounds.

"That's very surprising," Thompson said of the Tigers' 38-27 rebounding edge. "We have to have everybody flying in there for every rebound."

Freshman forward Konrad Wysocki flourished in the competitive enviornment of the bi-annual clash of the Ivy Titans, finishing with a double-double — 12 points and 10 rebounds. His presence on offense forced Penn to alter its defensive gameplan and he stymied Quaker forwards in his own end.

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Penn managed to overcome an eight minute scoring drought in the first half, and went on a run of its own late in the game to pull within six points with 4:11 remaining. With the Palestra floor vibrating from the din of the crowd, El-Nokali silenced the majority of people in attendance with a right-handed drive up the middle — penetrating the suddenly soft Penn defense and bringing the orange-clad minority in the upper level to its feet.

Junior forward Kyle Wente's three pointer on the ensuing possession gave the Tigers a double digit lead and forced Penn to begin fouling and hurling shots to close the margin. While some Quaker heaves found the net, Princeton made 14 consecutive free-throws to seal the win.

Though not overpowering, Princeton's methodical passing and cutting eventually frustrated Penn's man-to-man defense. Every Tiger — including junior forward Mike Bechtold, who played only two minutes on an injured foot — recorded an assist. Three pointers by Walton and Wysocki forced Owens to vacate the paint and defend the Tiger frontline on the perimeter — paving the way for drives to the basket — including El Nokali's game clincher, which brought the contest to its inevitable anticlimax.