What’s growth without growing pains?
The Quakers took on three games in three days in the Catherdral Classic this past weekend, with their lone win coming in their second match versus Maine. Their performance was indicative of a team that's learning to play together as they face new challenges - with their top players shining on offense despite the losses.
Navy
The tournament got off to a rough start for the Red and Blue (3-5), as they dropped their first match to Navy (3-6). Despite a nuclear performance from transfer junior forward Ethan Roberts, who scored a career-high 33 in the match, the Quakers could do nothing as the Midshipmen knocked down 15 threes at a nearly 50 percent clip.
Penn showed fight throughout the match, clawing back from down 10 to gain their first lead of late in the second period with a score of 51-50. Despite drawing ahead, a barrage of threes once again pushed Navy ahead as their lead grew to 70-57 with three minutes left.
The match ended 86-78, with Penn having one of its best offensive outputs of the year - but unable to stop their opponent's lethal perimeter attack. The top three scorers were senior forward Nick Spinoso, Roberts, and sophomore guard Sam Brown - a trend of output that coach Steve Donahue expects to continue.
“Those are the three guys where their role is to score and they have to play well,” Donahue said. “I think all the other guys play off of them in different ways.”
Maine
In their second game versus Maine (5-4), the Quakers came out the gate a team possessed. With senior forward Nick Spinoso once again running the show, the big man bullied Maine down low while delivering pinpoint passes to the constantly cutting Brown and Roberts. The constant motion, perimeter screens, handoffs, and team play resulted in an offensive gear that the team had not hit all year. This dynamic trio would once again lead the offense, with each posting double-digit scoring performances.
On the other side, a constant zone defense tormented Maine in the first half — limiting their three-point attempts that had sunk the Quakers versus Navy. The zone forced the rock into the middle of the court or baseline, where Penn’s lengthy defenders had an easier time deterring shots. Penn held a six-point lead going into half - but with the return of man defense and the allowance of a couple of quick Maine buckets - the Red and Blue found themselves in a stalemate in the second half once again.
In the final ten minutes, the Quakers scrapped harder than they had all year. Each player, from freshman guard AJ Levine to junior guard Dylan Williams skyed high for rebounds while Spinoso and junior forward Johnnie Walter dove for loose balls. The all-around hustle helped Penn secure a 77-64 victory while outrebounding their opponents 39-21.
“Coach actually kind of called us soft the other day,” Spinoso said. “And I think that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but in the right way too, it lit a fire for us.”
Elon
In their final match of the tournament, Penn was punched in the mouth right out of the gate as Elon (5-3) scored eight unanswered in their first three possessions versus a faulting Quaker man-to-man defense. A substitute of senior guard George Smith for freshman forward Michelangelo Oberti and the inclusion of more zone defense was Donahue’s answer out of the time out, but Elon decisively kept their foot on the gas.
Looking for creation on offense, Penn once again relied on their hustle on defense to create looks. Levine acted as a terror on defense, contesting driving guards, diving for loose balls, and even blocking jump shots - earning himself a round of applause as he checked out of the game. Despite this, Elon’s seven-foot-four giant Van Komen neutralized a lot of Penn’s paint presence, preventing second-chance rebounds while holding Spinoso to only four points scored early on.
Williams and Roberts’ individual scoring efforts slowly made up for the Red and Blue’s early deficit, but the team’s 5 of 21 first-half three-point shooting versus Elon’s 5-8 shooting from behind the arc kept the Quakers from gaining ground - ending the half down 37-26.
The second half seemed to start with Penn continuing to struggle. After a quick time out with 15 minutes left, Penn came out with a new team. Scoring on four straight possessions behind Spinoso’s maestros of the offense with the team appearing reinvigorated on defense, the Quakers cut the lead to four.
Despite Spinoso’s possessions going positively, the next trips down the court were dominated by Levine and WIlliams who struggled to create off of the bounce while their surrounding shooters struggled. Any ground the Quakers were able to make up was slowly torn away by Elon’s constant attacks on the rim.
“Third game in three days, and we didn’t handle it well in terms of execution for sure,” Donahue said. “... I thought we had open looks when a team zones you got to make shots, and we didn’t do that.”
The game would end 68-53, with the Red and Blue shooting an abysmal below 30 percent from the field. Brown in particular struggled mightily on offense, going 1 of 12 from the field.
“Sam Brown’s not playing like Sam Brown can play,” Donahue said after the game. “He’ll be the first to admit that.”
The lone bright spot from this difficult three-game stretch would be the continued emergence of Roberts - who was named to first-team all-tournament.
The Quakers play next on December 7 at 2 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Center versus Drexel in the Big Five Classic, which will air on ESPN.
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