Penn shoots down Brown in sizzling first half

On most nights, Brown's 48 percent first-half shooting would send coach Frank "Happy" Dobbs into the locker room smiling. But not during Saturday's visit to the Palestra, where the Quakers dominated offensively to establish a 43-27 halftime lead. Penn's first half shooting percentage? Eighty. "I looked down and saw 80 percent and said it can't be us," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. But there was no question that the numbers were correct, as the Quakers went 16-for-20 from the field with strong inside play and 6-of-7 shooting from behind the three-point line. "I'd like to give Penn credit on their performance because they shot the ball very well," Dobbs said. "They did a nice job with that." The opening tip was a sign of things to come as Geoff Owens sent the ball to Matt Langel, who found Paul Romanczuk for a score only six seconds into the game. Penn proceeded to score on its first eight possessions before Brown finally earned its first stop more than six minutes into the game. "Obviously we shot the ball extremely well coming out of the gate tonight," Dunphy said after the victory. The Quakers were up 19-10 at that point and had 29 points by the 10-minute mark of the first half. That pace translates to a 116-point total and had a few fans anticipating the Abner's promotion that promises cheesesteaks to all ticket holders when Penn scores more than 100 points in a win. But Dunphy decided that rest for Jordan was more important than free food for Penn students, and he gave his point guard a three-minute rest. The Quakers could only muster two points during that span. Penn took advantage of a Brown team that had three freshman starters and 6'8" senior Kamal Rountree trying to defend the 6'11" Owens. Things became even more promising inside when Rountree went to the bench with two fouls in the first five minutes. Romanczuk took advantage of Brown's subs with 12 first-half points on 4-for-5 shooting. Owens added four points, three rebounds and two assists. Not to be outdone by his teammates inside, Jordan picked up 12 points of his own on 4-of-4 shooting that included three baskets from long distance. Langel added nine points and five assists, and Jed Ryan accounted for six points and three more assists. But Penn's 80 percent from the field was not solely a result of some hot shooters. The Quakers picked up assists on 13 of their 16 first-half baskets due to movement on offense and good passing, especially on the interior. The Bears could not defend the Quakers because Penn's offense exploited its advantages of height and athletic ability with unselfish play that led to numerous easy shots. "I thought we had to be a little more consistent on the defensive end," Dobbs said. "But when you play against good teams like Penn, they take advantage of that, and then that's where you fall into a hole." The success of Romanczuk and Owens in the paint gave the perimeter players more open shots. Their hot start also fed on itself, as a fake from Jordan or Langel sent defenders flying past them as they drove to the basket. "They have? big men they can go to inside," Dobbs said "That takes a lot of pressure off the shooters." The Quakers even went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line -- or 83.3 percent -- in the half, after three consecutive games of sub-70 percent shooting from the charity stripe. Although Penn did not really need this offensive explosion to beat the lowly Bears, it may be necessary against teams like Princeton later in the season.

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