GAME ANALYSIS: Romanczuk was rock solid on island

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico -- While the Quakers were being taken to school down low, they learned a lesson on their own: Penn's front court can be productive, even if dwarfed by opponents. Big things needed to happen for the Penn men's basketball team when its three opponents shut down the Quakers' perimeter game. Although big things didn't happen to the team, which lost two of its three games in the San Juan Shootout, it was clear that big man Paul Romanczuk can still provide a spark or even carry his team for a while. Penn was in familiar territory over Thanksgiving weekend, facing three teams which dwarfed the Quakers. The perimeter game worked best against Dayton, which had Ryan Perryman and his 24 points to personally thank for controlling the contest. In the following games, however, Washington State and Evansville almost completely shut down the perimeter, allowing just 8 of 33 three-point shots (24 percent) to fall. Before those two games, Penn averaged nine treys on 20 attempts. In those two games, Penn averaged four three-pointers on 17 attempts. For the first time this season, Romanczuk looked like Penn's go-to player. In the latter two games, Romanczuk bucketed 10 of 14 shots, totalling 27 points. "The team's looking for a spark off the bench right now, and I'd like to provide that," Romanczuk said. The 6'7" forward had a miserable night versus Rice in the season opener, missing all of his shots, and hitting at just 50 percent of his free throws. He also committed two fouls in 12 minutes of playing time. Romanczuk's performance versus Rice, however, was affected by a lack of practice time. The junior's stress fracture in his knee had completely healed just one week before. This past weekend, Romanczuk looked like he was at 100 percent, crashing the boards and being aggressive underneath in Penn's 71-60, opening-round loss to Dayton. In its one win, Penn was only able to get going on offense following Romanczuk points. Versus the Cougars, Romanczuk pumped his arms and shouted at the empty Caguas Municipal Complex following a layup and foul, which resulted in Penn tying the game in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Romanczuk banged his way inside for another layup to break a Quakers two-minute scoring drought. That sparked an 8-2 Penn run, which brought the team within one point of Washington St. At the end of the contest, it was the all-Romanczuk show. Down 65-64, Romanczuk forced a foul, and hit one to tie the contest. The Cougars followed with a wide-open layup. Then Romanczuk's aggressive offensive move on the other end of the floor led to a foul and two free throws, of which he bucketed one. Following a Cougars turnover, Romanczuk again got the ball on a Jed Ryan feed in the paint for a layup and foul, which he sank, for the game's final score in the Quakers 69-67 win. In the Evansville 90-66 disaster, Romanczuk was the only player who was productive. His 15-point effort was highlighted by a Romanczuk-to-Lamar Plummer-to-Romanczuk fastbreak layup. This past weekend was the first time the Quakers' perimeter game was shut down. Romanczuk filled the void well and showed that he is the player to go to when the outside game falters.

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