Nov. 23, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A 66 percent shooting effort in the second half and a 9-0 run midway through the half helped Penn take control of the game and collect a 74-65 win over Lafayette on Tuesday night at the Palestra.
Senior forward Jared Mintz scored 18 points while Ryan Willen chipped in 16 in a game that featured six ties and seven lead changes.
The game was tied 45-45 with 12:09 left when Nick Petkovich hit the second of two free throw attempts. The Leopards committed three turnovers and missed their next three shots, including the front end of a 1-and-1, while Penn widened the gap.
Penn took the lead for good with 10:31 left when Zach Rosen hit a pair of free throws to lead 47-45. A Mintz bucket and accompanying free throw at 7:36 ended a four-minute drought by the Leopards to cut the Penn lead to 54-48.
That was as close as the Leopards would come. Penn led by as many as 11 three times in the final five and a half minutes with Lafayette not pulling any closer than seven. Mintz's layup at 4:18 and Willen's three that followed at 3:41 marked the first time in the second half that the Leopards put together consecutive buckets without a Penn answer.
The Quakers used balanced scoring throughout with four players reaching double digits. Rosen, who scored 30 in last season's meeting, had 16 points, six assists and eight boards. Tyler Bernardini, Jack Eggleston and Andreas Schreiber had 12, 12 and 10 respectively.
The Quakers scored 21 points to Lafayette's eight off turnovers. The Leopards turned it over 15 times to Penn's 12 times and were outrebounded 27-24.
In the first half, Lafayette shot 65 percent and led 36-29 at halftime. Mintz had 10 points followed by Willen's eight. There were five ties and six lead changes before intermission. Lafayette's finished the night, shooting 47 percent from the field after being held to nine buckets in the second half.
The Leopards begin a five-game home swing when Lafayette welcomes Delaware to Kirby Sports Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.
NOTES: Darion Benbow saw his first action the season, playing 15 minutes off the bench. Benbow was in the starting five in the second half.
Former Lafayette basketball players Ross Harms, Tim Bieg and Spencer Williams were in attendance on Tuesday night. Harms and Bieg were members of Patriot League championship teams in the late 90s and early 2000's.
