GW is a little too 'Koul' for M. Hoops in D.C.

Big inside players helped George Washington overcome first half deficit. WASHINGTON -- Everything pointed to a George Washington blowout yesterday when the Penn men's basketball team played its first-round match at the Franklin National Bank Classic. They had the height, they had the depth -- and they had Alexander Koul. But Penn (3-3) went into the locker room with a 34-29 halftime lead. The Quakers refused to give in to their bigger foes, leading for most of the way until succumbing late, 66-62. After seeing a thrilling Maryland upset over Kansas, the fans were almost treated to a second shocker. "Penn knew it would be overmatched physically," George Washington coach Mike Jarvis said. "So they did what they had to do. I expected a really tough game because of the way they play" The Quakers game-plan was simple: keep the ball out of the hands of 7'1" George Washington center Alexander Koul. On offense, Penn stayed on the perimeter. This strategy was successful, however, only because Kreitz and company had their outside touch going. Penn junior Garett Kreitz powered the Quakers to an early lead. Kreitz -- who connected on three consecutive three-pointers in the first five minutes -- finished the first half 5-for-5 from downtown with 15 points. "When we shoot the ball well, it seems that we play well," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We shot the ball very well in the first half, and Garett was knocking them down like crazy." The rest of the Quakers followed Kreitz's lead, staying on the perimeter. Penn point guard Michael Jordan's absence and the presence of the dominating George Washington front court prevented the establishment of an inside game. On defense, the Quakers contained Koul by throwing bodies at him. The play of Penn's front court -- Paul Romanczuk, George Mboya, and Jed Ryan -- held the big man in check, limiting him to 12 points in the first half before heading to the bench with foul trouble. "We ain't growing to 6'10" tomorrow morning," Dunphy said. "This is it. Let's go play. Let them go over our backs." While Jordan did not start due to an ankle injury, he still saw plenty of action. The Penn guards -- faced with the difficult obstacle of shutting down the diminutive George Washington point guard Shawnta Rogers -- held their own. At just 5'3", Rogers uses speed, vision and great leaping ability to overcome his physical limits "We were playing a team we were supposed to beat," Jarvis said. "We were supposed to beat Pennsylvania, so there was a little extra pressure, and then we didn't get off to a good start, and there was even more pressure." After a solid first half, good fortune continued for the Quakers at the outset of the second. Koul picked up his third foul two minutes in. Jarvis was then burned by Koul, as the big man picked up his fourth personal foul just over one minute later, sending him to the bench. With Koul sitting, the Quakers decided to venture inside. On the next possession, Kreitz took his first shot from within the arc, and like the longer ones hit nothing but net. Ryan and Romanczuk's aggressive play down low also led to several short Quaker buckets. Despite maintaining a consistent lead, the Quakers' luck turned sour. With over 15 minutes remaining, Kreitz -- Penn's offensive spark -- took an elbow to the face and a trip to the bench for repairs. Blood spewed out of his nose, which was broken last weekend in Puerto Rico. With Kreitz out for more than eight minutes, the Quakers went cold and the Colonials came back, regaining the lead thanks to the play of Yegor Mescheriakov and Francisco de Miranda. "Anytime you're sitting on the bench, you want to get back in there and help the team out," Kreitz said. "When I was on the bench, I saw what was happening." The Colonials drew within one point with two floaters from Mescheriakov, and then went ahead with their first three-pointer, by Rasheed Hazzard. With the outside cold-spell broken, the Colonials took and made more from the outside, including the tiny Rogers. With Koul on the bench, his Belarusan counterpart, Mescheriakov, stepped up his game, draining the go-ahead three-pointer. The Quakers had difficulty rebounding, and despite Koul's absence for nearly ten minutes, regained control of the post. Kreitz's return was the spark that ended Penn's offensive slump. Bandaged nose and all, Kreitz hit a big three-pointer to give Penn back the lead. Jordan also sparked the Quakers offense, with quick driving layups as well as pull-up jumpers and clutch free-throws. "He was tremendous to watch," Dunphy said of Kreitz's effort. But Kreitz alone could not stop the Colonials, as they marched up the court and Mescheriakov hit a jumper in the lane to put the Colonials up by two with 25 seconds on the clock. After a Quaker time out, Kreitz was caught in the air and shot an air ball. The rebound was fought for, and the ensuing jump ball gave the Colonials, up 64-62, the ball with six seconds in the game. "I was trying to get a combination of either Garett off the screen or Paul coming off of Garett's original screen," Dunphy said. "I think if we had just a little more patience, maybe we'd get something else." The Quakers fouled immediately, but as he had done all day, Mescheriakov came through and sealed the Quakers' fate. As a punishment for blowing their lead, the Quakers will take on the nationally-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, who were upset by Maryland in the first game. "All I could think about was that I didn't want to be playing Kansas after a loss," Jarvis said. "That would be worse than anything I could imagine."

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