Romanczuk's career day leads M. Hoops to win

The junior forward drained 15-of-18 free throws en route to a career best 25 points. Pottsville, Pa.-- In its latest nail-biter, the Penn men's basketball team (6-8) edged out the Bucknell Bison (6-10) Saturday at Martz Hall, 69-62. Bucknell coach Pat Flannery returned to his hometown of Pottsville, a town two hours northwest of Philadelphia, for a contest scheduled at his old, 4000-seat high school arena. "I knew coming back here would be tough, with all of the attention," Flannery said. "What I tried to do was get these guys to realize we had a basketball game to play. Certainly nobody feels worse after a loss, but I'm going to leave here with a tear in my eye." Despite the warm welcome for Flannery and the Bison, Penn got out to an early lead. Sophomore guard Michael Jordan opened the scoring with a three-pointer and then a back-door layup less than a minute apart. The first of 15 free throws made by junior forward Paul Romanczuk, along with jumpers from junior forward Jed Ryan, senior guard Garett Kreitz and sophomore guard Matt Langel, extended the Quakers' lead to ten with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Bison began to chip away at the Quakers' advantage midway through the half. Senior guard and Bison scoring leader J.R. Holden connected on a pair of three pointers, while junior guard Martin Gilliard tallied 11 first half points inside. "We knew that there were a few teams that Gilliard tried to post up," Dunphy said. "We had started Garett [Kreitz] on him, and he's obviously got a few inches on Garett. We knew we had to help down low on Gilliard and try to minimize the damage he did down there." The Bison had pulled within three points with five minutes remaining before the sleeping Quakers reawakened. Up four points and holding for one last shot before the end of the half, the Quakers cleared out of the lane to isolate Jordan to challenge Holden one-on-one. Jordan drove into the paint and hit a running jumper at the buzzer to put the Quakers ahead 36-30 going into the locker room. The start of the second half could have been named "The Holden and Romanczuk Show." The two alternated scoring for the first four minutes of the second stanza. Holden opened by draining a three just 15 seconds into the half. Romanczuk replied with a spin move to the hoop. They proceeded to exchange two-point buckets before letting others get in the act. Bucknell seized the lead after a series of Quakers mental lapses. An errant pass by Romanczuk and a turnover by Jordan, resulting in a monstrous dunk by Gilliard, gave the Bison a one-point lead. Bucknell, however, never led by more than one -- Romanczuk wouldn't allow it. "I can't remember a day like this, to tell you the truth," Romanczuk said. "I've had some good days, but I don't think anything like this. It was nice for my confidence." Romanczuk, finally matched up against someone his own height, dominated the low post area, scoring on easy layups or drawing hard fouls. The 6'7" Quakers forward earned trip after trip to the charity stripe in the second half. Only a 66 percent career free throw shooter, Romanczuk went to the line 18 times, netting 15, en route to 25 points. Both the 15 free throws and 25 points are career highs for the West Chester, Pa., native. "He's a lot quicker than a lot of the guys we're used to," Bison's forward Dan Bowen said. "Personally, I think we did a terrible job of denying him the ball. He got some big offensive rebounds. Clearly, we did a terrible job on him." Bucknell did manage to stay within striking distance throughout the second half. Midway through the half, the Quakers built up an eight point lead, thanks in part to a jumper by Langel and a three-pointer by freshman guard Lamar Plummer, who had seven points in 17 minutes of action. Plummer's three-pointer was one of only four made by the Quakers all game. "We had to take what the Bucknell defense gave us," Langel said. "They happened to switch on the perimeter when we exchange away, so that wasn't necessarily open. We had to keep cutting, getting in the lane, look to get the ball inside, and it just so happened that some of those mid-range jumpers ended up." The Bison had one more run before succumbing to the stringent Quakers defense. With eight minutes remaining, Bison forward Valtar Karavanic hit a three-pointer to close the gap to three points. With 3:30 remaining in the game, Bucknell briefly regained the lead on a Brian Muckle 12-foot jump shot. "Even when we got up 61-60, we didn't have that edge about us," Flannery said. "We didn't have that enthusiasm that this team plays with. It seemed like we were working today, instead of playing." The Quakers defense once again stifled the opposition near the end of the game. In the last two minutes, the Quakers surrendered only one field goal. "We certainly needed to come up with some key stops at the end," Dunphy said. "When we had those couple of possessions where we couldn't afford to give up a good look at the basket, we got that job done." The game, however, was ultimately decided at the free-throw line. Jordan tied the game seconds later at the line, and Kreitz put the Quakers on top for good. Romanczuk, Jordan and Langel sealed the game for the Quakers. Langel finished with 15 points and a career-high four steals. "This was a real good win for us," Dunphy said. "We went up against a solid team away from home. It was a close game, and that's the way we are going to play throughout the rest of the year. So we're going to have to finish these close games, which we did today."

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