Nov. 28, 2007

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - Six players scored in double figures, including all five starters, to propel Lafayette to an 81-69 triumph over Penn on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center. Junior guard Andrew Brown led the way with 15 points in the Leopards' third straight victory of the season.

The win, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Quakers, marked the 175th career coaching victory for Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon.

Lafayette (4-2) took an early lead in the first half and allowed Penn to tie the game (9-9) only once after a jumper from Brian Grandieri (13 points). Brown and the Leopards responded with a 10-point run. Brown capitalized on the next possession, scoring a three-pointer and Bilal Abdullah (14 points) followed with a jumper. A layup and a trey from Michael Gruner (13 points) stretched the lead to 19-10 at the 11-minute mark.

The Leopards held the lead for the remainder of the first stanza, leading by as many as 13 points. Late in the half, Penn converted six free-throw opportunities, including 4-for-4 from Michael Kach who finished with a game-high 17 points. The Leopards left with their second halftime lead of the season, a five-point difference (34-29).

Three minutes into the second half, the Quakers (2-5) took their first lead since 17:52 with a jumper by Tyler Bernardini, as Penn led 37-36. The lead changed hands four times over the next five minutes.

Lafayette went on a 21-6 run over a six-minute span ending with a 73-57 lead with 5:40 remaining in the game. Three-pointers from Brown sandwiched a trey from Paul Cummins (12 points) to start the initial 12-point run that was capped off with a dunk from Ted Detmer, putting the score at 62-50.

Briefly interrupted by a layup from the Quakers' Tyler Bernardini, the Leopards continued the offensive rush to obtain 67-52 edge, with two more treys from Cummins and another by Gruner. A foul by Grandieri brought Abdullah to the line and gave Lafayette its largest lead of the game, 16 points (73-57).

Penn would get no closer than 12 points in the final five minutes as the Leopards recorded their third straight victory of the season.

Matt Betley and Everest Schmidt reached double figures for the Leopards, contributing 10 points apiece, while Schmidt pulled down a season-high seven rebounds.

Lafayette hosts NJIT on Monday at 7 p.m. for the final game at Kirby Sports Center before embarking on an eight-game road trip.

GAMES NOTES:
- The last time Lafayette defeated Penn in both basketball and football was 1991. The Leopards football team defeated the Quakers at Franklin Field on Oct. 5 (20-12). That same year the men's basketball team won at Kirby Sports Center 83-72.
- The win snapped Lafayette's eight-game losing streak to the Quakers.
- The victory was the team's 80th against the eight members of the Ivy League
- The 69 points scored by Penn were well below the Quakers' season scoring average of 73.5 ppg
- Fran O'Hanlon was coaching in his 350th career game as a head coach and with tonight's win evened his career record at 175-175
- Six Lafayette players scored in double figures for the first time since Dec. 13, 2004 (Cal-State Northridge) and all five starters scored in double digits for the first time since the 2002 season
- Michael Gruner and Paul Cummins both set or surpassed season-highs in scoring. Gruner scored a season-high 13 while Cummins tied his season-best of 12 points.
- Ted Detmer's three blocks moved him into a tie for 10th place with Phil Ness on Lafayette's all-time career blocks list. Detmer now has 47 career blocks and needs five more to move into a tie with Andrei Capusan for eighth all-time.
- Andrew Brown and Paul Cummins both moved up Lafayette's list of all-time three-point scorers. Brown had four against Penn and needs just eight more threes to move into fifth place, while Cummins had three in tonight's game and needs nine more to move into fifth place.
- The Leopards are now 3-0 this season in televised games.
- The last time Lafayette registered three-consecutive victories was last season, posting wins against St. Peter's, NJIT and Lycoming.