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Penn Quakers suffer damning loss to Dartmouth at home

By Chuck Booth

Dec 3, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pennsylvania Quakers head coach Steve Donahue calls a play during the second half against the Temple Owls at Liacouras Center. Temple won 70-62. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pennsylvania Quakers head coach Steve Donahue calls a play during the second half against the Temple Owls at Liacouras Center. Temple won 70-62. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Win and you’re in, that’s the story for the Penn Quakers this weekend as they take on Dartmouth and Harvard in back to back home games.

The Penn Quakers [12-14, 5-8 Ivy] suffered a horrible loss in the Palestra tonight, losing to Dartmouth [7-19, 4-9 Ivy] 76-74. The Quakers had a chance to win the game on a last second shot by Darnell Foreman but he didn’t get the roll. On a night that Colombia also lost to Brown, it’s a loss that could have given Penn some breathing room in the race to make the Ivy League tournament. Now everything hinges on their matchup with Harvard tomorrow.

The Penn Quakers got off to a rough start in this one allowing the Dartmouth Big Green to rattle off an 8-0 run to start the game. The fluid offense that the Quakers had found during their recent 5-1 run was all but gone and stud freshman A.J. Brodeur looked lost on the court. More importantly, their defense that has been so effective lately decided to take the night off.

The Quakers struggled until they decided to take Brodeur out in the first half in exchange for Matt Howard. He went on a 5-0 run on his own to get the Penn Quakers back into the game and then helped spark the team to a 13-0 run to put the Quakers up two. The Quakers went into the half with the score tied at 35 thanks to a last-second two-pointer by Matt Howard who led all scorers in the half with 13.

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The Quakers allowed the Big Green to shoot 50 percent from the floor in the first half and to leave with a win and their tournament hopes intact, they would need to limit their chances going into the second half.

In the second it was more of the same with Dartmouth and Penn trading runs back and forth but the Quakers couldn’t limit the Big Green’s chances from three. The Big Green hit 13 three pointers tonight while the Quakers only made eight. the difference is that Dartmouth made 13/27 while Penn made 8/30 (big difference).

A look at the final shot by Darnell Foreman:

Dartmouth had a 9-0 run midway through the second half and Penn answered with an 18-3 run of their own but the defense made the difference today. Next up for the Quakers is a home match against the Harvard Crimson tomorrow at the Palestra. The Harvard Crimson are coming off of a loss to Princeton and will be looking to bounce back while the Penn Quakers need a win to help their chances at making the inaugural Ivy League tournament.

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Hopefully, Penn wins tomorrow coupled with Colombia losing because the tiebreakers to make the Ivy League tournament are giving me a headache.

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