M. Hoops obliterates Monmouth

(See below for corrections.) One game after dominating Southern California in a 99-61 shellacking, the Penn men's basketball team returned to the court on Saturday night and continued its dominance in a 98-54 demolition of Monmouth in Asbury Park, N.J. After impressing his hometown fans in the USC game, in which he shot 8-for-13, senior Koko Archibong was again hot from the field, shooting 8-for-10 and finishing with 18 points in 23 minutes. Senior guard David Klatsky -- a Holmdel, N.J. native playing in front of his home crowd -- joined Archibong among Penn's (6-4) statistical elite, returning home with a career-high 11 assists, as well as four rebounds, six steals and seven points. Ugonna Onyekwe added 16 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes of play, with senior guard Andrew Toole contributing eleven points and going 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Sophomore Tim Begley rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. The Quakers burst out of the gates to a 9-2 lead, but Monmouth quickly countered threes by Archibong, Begley and Toole with behind-the-arc launches of its own. However, the Hawks would not get any closer than a 24-15 deficit with 8:45 remaining in the first half. Penn then set off on a 19-8 run over the next five minutes, pushing the score to 43-23 with 3:09 remaining in the first half. One of Monmouth's only consolations during the half came in the final possession in which Hawks' freshman guard Chris Kenny grabbed a rebound and put up a shot to end the half with Penn leading, 50-33. The Quakers did not let up against their weaker opponent in the second half, beginning with a three-point play by Archibong which pushed Penn to a 55-35 lead. At the 15:12 mark with an Onyekwe field goal and three-pointer, the Quakers were able to make the rout a reality -- not with their offense as they had been dominating but with suffocating defense. Monmouth would not make a single field goal for the next five minutes of the game. Penn did, however, and did so emphatically, dominating the offensive end for the rest of the game. Beginning with back-to-back threes by junior guard Charlie Copp and senior guard Duane King, the Quakers jumped out to a 39-point lead. Freshman Friedrich Ebede's dunk with 26 seconds left put finishing touches on the Penn triumph and left the Quakers only two points shy of breaking the century mark for the first time this season. On the game, the Quakers shot 13-for-28 from behind the three-point line and collected a season-high 43 rebounds. Monmouth has been a mutual opponent for both of the "killer P's" this year -- Penn and Princeton. On Dec. 3, the Tigers nipped Monmouth, 60-57, in West Long Branch, N.J. and made all of the nightly highlight reels on junior guard Ed Persia's 75-foot heave at the buzzer. The Quakers travel to Lafayette tomorrow, followed by two Big 5 matchups at the Palestra against Saint Joseph's and La Salle. News and Notes: Lafayette split the two games it has played against Ivy League teams this year -- a 61-52 victory at Cornell on Jan. 2 and an 80-73 loss against Columbia on Jan. 5 ... The team's leading scorer, junior guard Justin DeBerry, is averaging 16.1 points per game so far this season.

Corrections

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