KNIGHTS AT A GLANCE: Quakers hope role pay off against FDU

Penn travels to face 2-0 Knights Last Saturday, the Penn men's basketball team opened its season with a convincing victory over Southern Cal. But if you thought the Quakers left California with just a 77-62 win, you would be way wrong. By a stroke of luck, the Penn squad was treated to a brief pep talk by Earvin "Magic" Johnson. He spoke to the team for about 15 minutes, but the impression will probably last a lifetime. Johnson, who faced Penn in the Final Four in 1979 while playing for Michigan State, talked about team play and cohesiveness. "He basically reinforced what our coaches are trying to get us to buy into," junior guard Jerome Allen said. "He talked about each individual having a role on the team. He was saying that no one could do it alone." If Johnson's sound advice is heeded, a solid team effort should be expected when Penn hits the road again tomorrow night at Fairleigh Dickinson, as the Quakers will face the 2-0 Knights at the Rothman Center (7:30 p.m., WOGL 1210-AM). FDU is riding high after defeating Rutgers 56-53 on the road on Wednesday. FDU is a solid team which returns three starters from last season. The Knights are led by junior point guard Antwan Dasher, the 1992-93 Northeast Conference Newcomer of the Year. Dasher has posted impressive numbers early on – averaging 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds in the Knights' first two games. "They're a good athletic team who works real hard on the defensive end," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They rebound the ball well, too." Seniors Tanner Robinson and Mike Pollard are the focus of the FDU frontcourt. Robinson averaged 14.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last year. Pollard has started off strong and chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds against Rutgers. Last season FDU was severely hampered by injuries. The leading scorers from the 1991-92 season, Clive Anderson and David Freeman, missed the year due to knee injuries. Both men return this season and should see significant playing time. Anderson has been solid in his brief appearances at forward. He chipped in seven points and six boards versus the Scarlet Knights. Starting at the two spot is senior Ray Ankton. However, Donald Taylor, a junior college transfer, has seen more time and has posted bigger stats. He leads the team in scoring (13.5 points a game) on 60-percent shooting from the field. The Quakers are definitely favored in the matchup, but they can't expect to cruise to victory. Penn's victory against USC was convincing, but Monday's loss at Ohio State showed that Penn is not always perfect. "We needed to take care of the ball a little better," Dunphy said. "And we needed to make better choices on the offensive end." FDU fields a very athletic squad which likes to push the ball up the floor often. The Knights are strong on defense and Dunphy expects to see a variety of defensive alignment. He also knows that even though his first name isn't David, Robinson is still an offensive threat. "He's going to do a good job inside," Dunphy said. "So we'll try to stop him from posting up and hurting us down low. We'll do a couple of things against him because we're anticipating him to be a very good player." Every Quaker has a role which they need to perform if Penn is going to be victorious tomorrow night as well as in its remaining games. But for the time being, Dunphy is most concerned with the task at hand. "We have to be solid in the halfcourt like we normally are," Dunphy said. "We'll have to pay attention to their fast break and do a good job on their transition defense." The responsibility of stopping Robinson will mainly fall on the shoulders of junior Eric Moore, junior Shawn Trice, sophomore Tim Krug and sophomore Bill Guthrie. Judging by the performance of these players against the frontlines of the Trojans and the Buckeyes, the front four should have no problem keeping Robinson quiet. The frontcourt will also need to continue its impressive rebounding on both ends of the court. Trice and Moore have put on a boxing-out clinic so far this year and senior captain Barry Pierce, Allen and junior guard Matt Maloney have been grabbing their share of boards as well. In the first ever Penn-FDU matchup, Maloney and Allen need to be potent – while being patient – on offense. They will also be called on to silence FDU's backcourt guns. If Penn can adhere to Magic's role-playing advice, the Quakers should topple the Knights this weekend and continue on the road to success. · Despite conventional wisdom which states that a torn anterior cruciate ligament is a season-ending injury, Penn senior center Andy Baratta is already up and running despite his injury – which occurred two weeks ago. "It's remarkable," Dunphy said. "We're going to go a little bit carefully with him, but the doctor's very pleased with his performance." Baratta's been sporting a brace in practice and looks surprisingly mobile on the court, considering the severity of his injury. He won't see action against FDU, but Dunphy expects him to return to the lineup in the next few weeks.

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