M. Hoops shows poise in the Big Apple after upstate shocker

NEW YORK -- Penn point guard Michael Jordan made it real simple for his fellow Quakers Saturday night when the team ventured up to New York City. "Let's get loose and have fun out there! " he spouted to his teammates moments before the Columbia contest. The result was a 71-53 win that proved once again the 1997-98 Penn men's basketball team has the ability to overcome adversity. Following a devastating 73-70 loss to an overachieving Cornell club the night before, the "loose" style displayed by the Quakers led to a blowout over the Lions. The unbridled enthusiasm Penn utilized against the Lions in a sense served as a sixth man out there Saturday night. Part of the easygoing vibe exuded by Penn translated into some thrilling moments. It showed when Jordan took a gorgeous ally-oop pass from teammate Paul Romanczuk and converted it for a lay-up. On the flip side, a Jordan bounce pass between two Lion defenders produced a Romanczuk dunk on a fast break. Both plays had Columbia coach Armond Hill calling timeout. "Whenever a team gets easy points it is usually because of some mental error we made on defense," Hill said. "Both those plays were momentum-builders for Penn and I called timeout to remind my players to not get careless on defense." The Red and Blue's casual nature on the court also produced several wide open three-pointers for Jordan and senior co-captain Garett Kreitz, who together sunk eight treys. In all, the Quakers nailed 11 three-pointers -- six in the second half when Penn built upon its seven-point half time lead. Kreitz stood out from the rest. He bucketed three from downtown in a six minute span in the second half to ignite a Quakers' streak. The initial two treys helped Penn jump to a 39-26 lead in the opening moments in the second half. Minutes later the Lions put together a run of their own and chipped Penn's lead down to five points before Kreitz proceeded, in a matter of seconds, to swish a three-pointer, steal the ball and lead a fast break, and then force Lion Gary Raimondo into putting up an air ball. Having struggled the night before against the Big Red -- Kreitz hit only one of five shots Friday -- Penn's second all-time leading three-point shooter (only ex-Quaker Matt Maloney has nailed more treys) found his sweet spot in the Big Apple. "I think Garett came out and just wanted to have fun," Jordan said. "I think in the other games he might have been a little uptight like 'I don't want to miss. I don't want to miss.' And tonight he was just wanted to have fun." The disappointing loss to Cornell officially erased any chance of an Ivy title coming back to Philly and the notion of the Quakers making a trip to the National Invitational Tournament. Under these circumstances, the spirited effort by Penn up in New York City might seem to some Quakers' fans as after the fact. Jordan, however, seemed to be relieved by the ending of the title race and alluded to a fact about him and his teammates that was seen inside the locker room only by the players themselves. "I am thinking we just got to the point where we were like we have to start having fun," Jordan said. "I mean a lot of times after wins we were all just like this [Jordan shrugs his shoulders and looks down] because we were all so uptight and didn't want to mess up. But we can't play basketball like that. You have to go out there and have fun." With this comment, Jordan hit upon something more valuable than a victory over the Lions. Clearly anyone who has followed the Quakers this season knows the team has put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves to win every contest. In fairness to the Penn hoopsters, this is an awfully big responsibility, especially given the numerous Quaker injuries the team has faced to its starting five. "We didn't play one of our better games against Cornell," Dunphy said. "But I think we did come out tonight a little looser and maybe it had to do something with us being mathematically eliminated or maybe it had to do something with this being the last Saturday night game of the year. Either way, I am very pleased with our effort tonight and I can tell you it was nothing I said." Score one for the coach. His silence motivated Jordan to play the part of leader -- a role he will almost surely assume in the future -- and pump up his team. Jordan recognized there was no sense in the Quakers tying a noose around their heads because an Ivy crown was no longer in sight. Instead, Penn followed the words of its sophomore sensation and stayed loose, resulting in a nice comeback win after a disappointing Friday night at Cornell.

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