M. hoops reaches milestone

Lamar Plummer and Ugonna Onyekwe combined for 42 points and formed a potent inside-outside attack as the Penn men's basketball team picked up an important win at Lafayette, 82-74, on Saturday afternoon. The Quakers (4-10) shot an impressive 51 percent from the field and an uncharacteristic 80 percent from the free-throw line en route to their fourth victory in the past six games. With the win, Penn becomes only the eighth team in NCAA history to reach 1,500 victories. "We feel very fortunate to have won the game. Last year was a great win for our team, and that really propelled us to a good latter part of the season," said Penn coach Fran Dunphy, referring to last season's 80-76 home victory. "And I would hope that might be what would happen for our team this year as well." After a dismal, 76-66 loss at Delaware on Wednesday, the Quakers desperately needed to regroup against a mediocre Lafayette (6-10) team. With strong showings across the board -- all eight Penn players who saw action scored at least four points -- depth was the key in the Quakers' victory. "We knew we needed a win and we needed to arrive as a team and to get some pieces together," Dunphy said. "And I thought we got some good efforts off the bench. Hopefully we're getting better as a team." Plummer started the day's scoring for the Red and Blue by hitting the first of his six three-pointers just a minute into the contest. Penn never trailed after that. The Quakers pushed their lead as high as 12 in the first half as the Leopards converted just three of their first 14 shots. Strong play on the boards denied Lafayette any second chances, and quick hands on defense -- including a steal at halfcourt and subsequent layup by sophomore guard Duane King -- kept the Leopards' offense shaky and off-balance. But behind the strong inside play of center Frank Barr and three trifectas from guard Tyson Whitfield -- including one four-point play -- the Leopards closed to 39-34 at the half. The past few meetings between these squads have come down to the wire, and when Lafayette cut the lead to just one point early in the second half, it appeared that this year's game would be no different. But following a timeout at the 15:47 mark, the Quakers used a 12-2 spurt -- with three-pointers by Plummer and point guard David Klatsky, a two-handed dunk by Onyekwe and four free throws by forward Koko Archibong -- to break out to a commanding 55-44 lead. "David Klatsky stepped up and made a big jumper in the corner to go from a one to a four- point lead," Dunphy said of his point guard, who had six points and four assists, but also a team-high four turnovers. "He got trapped a few times, and coughed the ball up, and that's something that he needs to certainly take care of. "But he stepped up and made a huge shot there, and we did weather the storm, and I was proud of our guys for that." On the other side of the ball, Lafayette didn't exactly help its own cause. With the Penn lead whittled down to a one five minutes into the second half, Leopards point guard Tim Bieg committed two of his five turnovers on consecutive possessions. "It's definitely frustrating to turn the ball over," Bieg said. "That's something that I look at myself, and I should know that I shouldn't be able to give guys the ball in certain spots if they're not looking for it." After Penn's mini-run, the Leopards never got closer than six points until the final minute. Barr led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and seemed to always have the ball in his hands -- and then in the net -- as the second half wore on. At times, it seemed that the 7'0" center was the only calm and collected member of a Lafayette offense that could not get going. But while Lafayette was getting inside baskets, the Quakers always seemed to be one-upping their opponents with both three-pointers from Plummer and King and three-point plays by Onyekwe. Penn converted 18-of-28 two-point shots -- a nice complement to Plummer's 6-for-12 showing from behind the arc. Using a zone defense, the Leopards simply could not deny the Quakers in the paint or on the perimeter. "Our whole emphasis is inside-out," Plummer said. "We start with the big guys and try to get it in there and see what they can do first. The ball movement and getting it inside was the key to our success in making shots outside." This win over a Lafayette team that had previously defeated Princeton, Yale, Cornell and Columbia may well be the Quakers best victory so far this winter. And with the main portion of the Ivy schedule quickly approaching, Penn may finally be realizing its full potential at just the right point in the season.

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