Yale shadows cast aside by M. Hoops win

Against Lafayette the team overcame several problems that plagued it in final two minutes last Saturday at Yale. What a difference a day makes. Just one day after failing to close the door on Yale, the Penn men's basketball team (5-8, 1-1 Ivy League) raised its play to the next level in the closing minutes of a 74-68 victory over Lafayette (9-6) Monday night. "We didn't take care of some business down the stretch against Yale," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Tonight we made shots, the other night we didn't make them." It's that simple. Three elements of the Quakers' play broke down in the closing minutes against Yale -- ball-handling, defensive intensity, and outside shooting. Senior guard Garett Kreitz committed a costly turnover with 30 seconds to go in regulation, the Quakers were unable to keep Elis senior Matt Ricketts in check, and sophomore guard Matt Langel missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer. On Monday night, the Quakers found themselves in a similar situation. However, with the painful memories of the Yale loss fresh in its mind, Penn improved its performance in those three crucial game aspects. Down six points to the Leopards with fewer than five minutes remaining, Kreitz, who shot a meager 1-for-4 from downtown in the first half, stopped the bleeding caused by the low-post dominance of Lafayette center Stefan Ciosici and turned the game around. Kreitz erased the deficit with two consecutive 22-foot bombs for six points in less than a 30 second span. It was a lead the Quakers would never relinquish. "I wanted to do whatever I could to help my team," Kreitz said. "I think we were down five, I got a real good pass, someone drew my defender, I was wide open, and I buried it. Again, Josh Sanger fed me on the second one and I pulled up and took that one, and it went in for me." The same Quakers defense that let Dunphy down on Saturday night stepped up Monday, raising their play to another level. In the Lafayette possessions that followed Kreitz's trifectas, the Quakers twice forced turnovers on passes and stole the ball on two other occasions. "They stepped up and wanted to win that game. You have to credit their defense," Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon said. "There were a couple of instances when we had to get a shot. We had a big fella down there making every shot. We just didn't get him the basketball in certain situations." On the next possession, Langel would find his redemption. After Ciosici drew Lafayette to within one point, the Quakers used 33 seconds of the shot clock before giving Langel another chance. "I happened to practice that shot maybe 20 times or so at shoot-around the other day after missing it at Yale," Langel said. "It was pretty much the same situation. It was the game clock against Yale. It happened to be the shot clock tonight." This time, Langel hit the runner to put the Quakers up 71-68 with 39 seconds on the game clock and double zeros on the shot clock. "The shot clock was running down. Michael [Jordan] swung the ball. Now four seconds left on the shot clock, my guy was flying at me, and I knew I had to get in the lane and make a shot," Langel said. "So I got in the lane and that was the shot that was there." On the ensuing possession -- Penn's last defensive stand -- Jordan stepped into Lafayette guard Tim Bieg and drew the charge that gave Penn the ball and the victory with 30 seconds left. "I can't say what the difference is that specifically makes us better or finish the game tonight," Dunphy said. "I wish I knew, then I'd have that magic formula. But just keep plugging away and do the best you can and hopefully we don't have play in too many close games."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.