Quakers win with and without Toole

Many Penn fans showed up Friday night expecting the fabled 100-point Abners' cheesesteaks against a clearly outmatched Dartmouth basketball team. The Penn faithful chanted for them before a minute was played. One of the spectators of the 73-50 victory over the Big Green, however, was the Red and Blue's starting point guard Andrew Toole. The senior sprained his right ankle during Tuesday night's game against La Salle and was inactive due to the injury in Penn's Ivy League opener. The matchup against Harvard on Saturday was expected to be the more difficult of the weekend's games -- making the Dartmouth game a logical time to rest Toole for the Crimson. However, Penn coach Fran Dunphy emphasized that Toole was held out Friday because he was unable to play on the ankle, not because the coach expected to be able to defeat the Big Green without their starting point guard. "I think we needed him on both nights, but it just didn't work out well last night," Dunphy said. "He felt appreciably better than he did [Friday]." Toole showed few ill effects from the sprain against Harvard. He led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He also sank two three-point baskets in four attempts. Toole's ankle held up for 34 minutes of playing time. He was the catalyst of the Quakers' attack, as he led the team with six assists. "That kid has worked real hard. He's a great competitor, and he wants to play," Dunphy said. "Andy played terrificly." Toole got off to a fast start after a sluggish offensive performance by both teams in the early minutes of the first half. Toole recorded 11 of the Red and Blue's first 21 points. His second three-pointer of the game stretched Penn's lead to 21-8. The starting guard's scoring wasn't as prolific in the second half, but his play was impressive nonetheless. Early in the second half, Toole drove from the baseline and bounced a cross-court pass to set up junior Jeff Schiffner's three-pointer. Following that, Toole ended up with a steal that led to a layup on the other end of the court. The senior guard torched the Crimson repeatedly-- driving around the Harvard defense for a layup, through the defense for a reverse layup, and over the defense for a shot-clock buzzer-beating jump shot. "He's one of the tough covers in the league from the perimeter," Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. "Toole is one of the better guys in the league in terms of being able to knock you off balance with the dribble and we had a tough time adjusting to that." A starter before Toole transfered from Elon College, senior David Klatsky and junior Charlie Copp filled in for Toole against the Big Green. "We've played a lot without Andy in the last couple of seasons," Dunphy said. "He's an important part of what we do, and yet when he's not in there David and Charlie can do a very good job. And he did that tonight, I think." Copp received the starting nod at point guard and contributed a season-high six points and tied his season-high with six assists. Klatsky, the Quakers' sixth man, again proved that he can pick up the offensive slack when necessary. He tied Ugonna Onyekwe and Tim Begley for the game-high with 14 points and led the Quakers with five assists. "It's a nice security blanket, bringing David off the bench," Dunphy said. "David's used to doing that and he's good at it."

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