GAME ANALYSIS: M. Hoops downs La Salle to stay unbeaten in Big 5

Senior Paul Romanczuk returned to form with a 24-point effort. Paul Romanczuk did not hit the game-sealing shot last night. But he did just about everything else. With center Geoff Owens emerging as the main Quakers inside force, Romanczuk has struggled this season. The senior power forward has seen his numbers slide significantly from the last two years. The West Chester, Pa. native entered last night's contest against the La Salle Explorers averaging just 8.7 points per game, his lowest total since averaging 6.7 ppg as a freshman. But last night he looked like the Romanczuk of yesteryear. "I think the key tonight was Romanczuk," La Salle coach Speedy Morris said. "I mean Romanczuk just killed us. He did a superb job." At Tom Gola Arena, however, Romanczuk tallied a season high 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting to lead the Quakers to victory over the Explorers. The total was one point off his career high of 25, set last year against Bucknell. Romanczuk exploded early, notching his first basket with a layup just 2:32 into the contest. The second of Romanczuk's 11 field goals came under two minutes later. "As soon as I get a good jump on things, the players are going, 'let's get it to Paul, let's get it to Paul'," Romanczuk said. Penn point guard Michael Jordan (10 points) penetrated the La Salle interior defense and found Romanczuk cutting to the basket for a two-hand slam that silenced a rowdy La Salle crowd early in the night. The assist was the first of Jordan's game-high eight, including four to Romanczuk. "[Romanczuk's] a tough kid and we new that.? He really did a number on us," Morris said. Morris and the Explorers felt Romanczuk's wrath last year, when he dropped 18 points on La Salle in the Palestra. With La Salle's perimeter defense taking away Penn's three-point shot, the Quakers continued to use Romanczuk's inside presence. While Penn only hoisted two three-pointers in the first half and eight in the entire game, the power forward consistently made his way into the paint. "They were really pressuring our perimeter players," Romanczuk said. "When I see that, I see lanes. And I'm an aggressive player, so when I see that, I take the ball to the basket. "That's my game -- that's always been my game since I have been playing basketball." Last year's Second Team All-Big 5 selection scored eight of the Quakers' first 10 points. He surpassed his season average less than 10 minutes into the game with a layup at the 10:13 mark. Romanczuk ended the first half with another layup to push the Quaker lead to 34-29 going into the locker room. He brought with him nearly as many points as the rest of his teammates, accounting for 16 of Penn's 34. "He's a competitive person. He got a lot of loose balls, he got a lot of rebounds," La Salle's K'Zell Wesson said. "He just got a lot of hustle baskets, but he played a good game, so you've got to give him credit." After starting the second half with the Quakers' first basket, Romanczuk was relatively silent in the latter stages of the game. However, the senior tri-captain carried the Quakers through their toughest stretch of the game. Penn fell behind for the first time since tip-off eight minutes into the second half, when La Salle star Wesson (19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) hit the second of two free throws to put the Explorers up by one, 46-45. Romanczuk responded with his second dunk of the game -- also assisted by Jordan -- to put the Quakers back in front. "Paul had a great game," Penn assistant coach Steve Donohue said. "As the game was going on, Paul and I talked about it and I was like, 'this is your game, because they're taking everything away from the perimeter'." Just three minutes later, with the Quakers a basket down again, Romanczuk showed his hot hand. He capped his 24-point night with a game-tying layup, starting Penn on a 5-0 run that put the Quakers ahead for the remainder of the game. The tri-captain also showed his leadership in focusing for a game distracted by the recent loss of Fran Dunphy Sr., father of Penn head coach Fran Dunphy. "We kind of prepared for this game," Romanczuk said. "Thinking that if coach isn't 100 percent into this game we can't look to him for motivation, we've got to look to ourselves." Romanczuk certainly found his old self -- the player that averaged 14.0 ppg and 6.3 rebounds per game a year ago. Last night's showing capped a breakthrough week for Romanczuk. In Penn's narrow 68-62 defeat of Ivy opponent Yale, Romanczuk scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The following night against Brown, Romanczuk's 14 points countered Bears inside threat Kamal Roundtree, who also scored 14. The week's not over yet either, as Romanczuk should have little trouble with Saturday's overmatched opponent, the Colgate Red Raiders.

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