Final, 78-65 Penn
Just as it looked like Penn might be in for a repeat of last night, the Quakers snapped out of their funk and went on a 28-3 run, playing the most inspired stretch of basketball they’ve played all season. The key to the game was Penn’s great inside play, which started to free up open looks from the perimeter later on in the game. Glen Miller has to be very pleased with this win against a somewhat talented Yale team. On the whole, a tremendous team effort for the Quakers.

A few quick notes:

• Yesterday I told you that Remy Cofield left the Palestra in a Tom Brady-like protective boot. He was not on the floor for the pre-game warmups tonight and didn’t see any action.
• Cam Lewis, who didn’t play last night, saw 4 minutes tonight.
• Mike Kach did not play.
• Penn got to the free throw line 20 more times than it did last night, going 22-26.
• Harrison Gaines had 5 assists in 12 minutes with only one turnover. For the game, Penn had 18 assists and 12 turnovers.

In-game updates can be found after the jump.

1:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 76-60 Penn

Penn has other ideas. The Quakers do a great job of breaking the press, and Reilly finds Bernardini under the basket for a layup. He makes the basket and draws the foul, converting the 3-point play. Now, music to Penn’s fans’ ears — an “Ibby Jaaber” chant emanating from the Red and Blue Crew. Jaaber acknowledged the fans with a wave. Justin Reilly just delivered the dagger, a three in front of the Penn bench. This one is over.

2:55 to go in the 2nd Half, 70-56 Penn

A few quick baskets by Yale and a Tyler Bernardini turnover later, Yale still has a bit of hope. Down 14 with just under three minutes to go, crazier things have happened.

3:41 to go in the 2nd Half, 68-52 Penn

The Red and Blue crew thinks this one is in the bag, and it probably is. Penn’s student section is serenading the opponent with the “hey song.”

4:44 to go in the 2nd Half, 67-49 Penn

Caleb Holmes just fouled out on a great Justin Reilly tip-in on a Bernardini missed layup. Penn did a great job in transition, with Grandieri finding Bernardini under the basket for the open look. Holmes is absolutely pissed off and had yelled some R-rated words in frustration on his way back to the bench. The Penn fans gave him plenty of grief with their classic “left-right-sit” chant, and he slammed his hand down on the bench. Yale responded with a Pinick dunk in transition, and Miller is very upset with Gaines’ defense on that last play. Penn is doing a good job breaking Yale’s full-court press, though, and seems to be in control of this game.

7:52 to go in the 2nd Half, 61-41 Penn

Wow. Penn looks like a true contender right now, in part because Yale is so deflated. After Cohen hit his foul shots, Eggleston kicked the ball out to Cohen who netted a big three-pointer from the corner in front of Penn’s bench. On the next possession, Cohen found Bernardini cutting to the basket, and Bernardini was fouled on the layup attempt. He’ll go to the line for two after the media timeout. Penn hasn’t looked this good in a long time. Also, Ibby Jaaber is in attendance tonight behind the Penn bench. Bernardini just sank both of his free throws — Penn is great from the line tonight. This is a 28-3 run by the Quakers right now, who have clearly woken up after the weak start to the second half.

9:05 to go in the 2nd Half, 56-39 Penn

Aron Cohen just got fouled, and Penn is now in the double-bonus. Penn is doing a great job from the free-throw line tonight. Bernardini and Reilly were perfect on two consecutive trips to the line, and Cohen was perfect on this one. Egee also hit a great jumper from the elbow. The Quakers are starting to break this one open.

10:23 to go in the 2nd Half, 49-39 Penn

Tyler Bernardini went coast-to-coast off the inbounds and split Yale’s defense, taking it to the lane and drawing a foul. He made both free throws to put Penn up by 10. For Yale, center Matt Kyle has just fouled out, which can’t bode well for Yale. The Bulldogs are having enough trouble guarding Penn inside. Yale’s coaches are exhorting their players to show some signs of life right now. Penn is already in the bonus.

11:46 to go in the 2nd Half, 46-39 Penn

Penn just went on a very nice run thanks to great passing and good defense. Yale decided to go into a full court press down 39-38, and Penn broke it to perfection. Eggleston dribbled through it and found Grandieri running up the court with him. Grandieri hit a nice pull-up banker to give Penn a two-point lead. The Quakers then scored five more unanswered. First, Gaines pushed it up the floor and found Reilly wide open under the basket for a layup (on a goaltending call). Then, Penn set up its offense, and Bernardini drained a three, making it 46-39 Penn. Gaines has been doing a great job of pushing the ball up the floor today — Penn has had a lot of success beating Yale in transition.

14:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 39-38 Penn

Speaking of jackets, Glen Miller’s is now off after Eggleston failed to convert in the paint and was called for an offensive foul.

15:39 to go in the 2nd Half, 39-38 Penn

Penn has its first lead since the opening minutes, thanks to a great off-balance jumper from the right elbow by Bernardini. The Quakers have also picked up the intensity on defense, drawing two offensive fouls by Yale on back-to-back possessions. Also, a sidenote: I’ve now received two texts about Penn assistant coach Perry Bromwell’s attire. He’s wearing a green jacket that I can barely see from my seat here. But if I’ve gotten two texts about it, I’m sure it’s a sight to be seen.

16:30 to go in the 2nd Half, 38-37 Yale

Penn has now gone back to the game plan again, and it’s working. Inside baskets have brought the Quakers back in this one. Good inside ball movement left Schreiber open for a layup attempt, on which he was fouled and converted both free throws. Then Reilly pulled down an offensive rebound off of a Bernardini three-point miss and put it back up, drawing the foul and converting the three-point play. Bernardini also got fouled going up for a layup on the next possession and converted 1-2, making it 38-37.

18:57 to go in the 2nd Half, 36-29 Yale

Yale just opened up on a 6-0 run in the first minute of the second half. Three easy layups against a lazy Penn defense, the last one on a fast break after a poor entry pass from Bernardini. Schreiber also attempted a three, but it was an air-ball. Miller quickly called a timeout. After such inspired play to end the first half, this is the last thing the Quakers needed.

Halftime Stats

For Penn: Grandieri and Eggleston lead the Quakers with 8 points a piece, and Grandieri has 3 assists as well. He’s 4-7 from the field. Schreiber is 3-6, Eggleston is 3-7. Penn has 24 points in the paint, compared to 12 for Yale. Penn shot 42 percent from the field and was 1-5 from downtown. Penn has a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. No joke.
For Yale: Eric Flato leads all scorers with 9, with all of his points coming from beyond the arc. Travis Pinick has five points on 2-3 from the field. The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field and are 5-13 from downtown.

Halftime, 30-29 Yale

At the end of the half, Gaines set up Penn for a last second shot, which Reilly took from three-land, but it didn’t fall. Yale’s bench was livid, claiming that Gaines stepped on the sideline before passing it over to Reilly. Grandieri got Penn to 29 on a tough basket in the paint, which has really been the story of the game so far for the Quakers. Defensively, they’ve given up one too many threes, but all around they’re playing the best basketball I’ve seen them play in a while. The only time Penn struggles is when it tries to fire up threes. When the Quakers have worked the ball inside tonight, though, they’ve looked fantastic, in large part thanks to Grandieri’s efforts. Gaines has also played nicely, especially in the final few minutes of the half. Halftime stats will follow shortly.

2:41 to go in the 1st Half, 28-27 Yale

Just as the game looked like it might be shifting in Yale’s favor, Penn went back to its game plan, and it paid dividends. Inside buckets from Grandieri and Reilly off of great feeds from Harrison Gaines have put Penn back in this one, and Yale has cooled off from downtown. On the Reilly basket, Gaines beat everyone on Yale down the court and found Reilly wide open under the basket for the easy 2. Then Gaines pushed the ball up again and slung a one-handed pass to Grandieri, who was all alone under the basket. James Jones is not happy with his team’s interior defense, or the officiating, which has favored Penn today. He just slammed his hand down on the scorer’s table in disgust.

5:21 to go in the 1st Half, 26-21 Yale

A few ill-advised three-point attempts by Penn, including one from Cohen, and another three from Flato, and the momentum has shifted. Yale now has the ball with a 26-21 lead. Gaines, Egee, Reilly, Eggleston, and Grandieri are in for Penn.

7:39 to go in the 1st Half, 20-17 Yale

After the timeout, Yale came out energized, scoring two quick baskets. The second was an emphatic dunk by Pinick. On the previous possession, Egee attempted an off-balance scoop shot that couldn’t even hit the rim. But on the next Penn possession, he stuck a three — Penn’s first points from the perimeter all game — to cut Yale’s lead to three.

8:57 to go in the 1st Half, 16-14 Yale

Great job by the current lineup Penn has on the floor, and Yale is starting to struggle in transition. Penn pushed the floor against the Bulldogs twice in a row. The first time, Egee found Eggleston driving the lane for an easy two. Then, Cohen found Schreiber all alone under the basket for an open layup, prompting a Yale timeout.

10:40 to go in the 1st Half, 16-10 Yale

Penn is getting burned by the three-point shot, just like it has all season long. After the timeout, Flato — who has the hot hand for the Bulldogs right now — came back with another three, stretching Yale’s lead to six. Penn got two inside buckets — all of their points have come from point-blank range today. Grandieri had a nice dish to Gaines for a layup, and then Grandieri had a nice spin move inside to create an easy layup for himself, making it 16-10. Gaines was taken out soon after his layup, and Egee took over at the point. Now, Eggleston, Schreiber, Bernardini, Aron Cohen, and Egee are in, with Cohen running the point.

14:11 to go in the 1st Half, 11-6 Yale

Flato and Holmes just responded with two quick threes, forcing Miller to burn a timeout. Conor Turley and Harrison Gaines, along with Lewis, Grandieri, and Egee, are in for the Quakers. And finally, the Penn students are starting to file in. The section is by no means packed, but there are more than 3 kids.

14:48 to go in the 1st Half, 6-5 Penn

Right from the get go, it’s clear that Glen Miller’s game plan today is to work the ball inside to the big men. Penn got the first points of the game on a reverse layup from Schreiber — on a nice entry pass from Grandieri. The Quakers got their second basket on a Grandieri-to-Schreiber pass and baby hook, as well. Eggleston, who has had several looks inside tonight, finally converted one to give Penn 6. Both teams are playing man-to-man right now, and with all of the emphasis in the paint, it looks like Cam Lewis — who didn’t play last night — is coming back out onto the court after the media timeout.

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Good evening from the Palestra, as the Penn Quakers (8-15, 3-3 Ivy) look to bounce back from last night’s tough loss against Brown. Their opponent, Yale (10-11, 4-3 Ivy), is coming off of a 67-56 win over Princeton last night. In case you didn’t know, this game is airing on ESPN Classic. 15 minutes before tip, there are 3 Penn students in the stands. 3. That should make for some interesting crowd surfing shots. Hopefully everyone will start to file in soon. Refresh this page for live updates throughout the night.

Tonight’s Starters

For Yale:

F Travis Pinick

F Nick Holmes

C Matt Kyle

G Eric Flato

G Alex Zampier

For Penn:

G Kevin Egee

G Tyler Bernardini

G Brian Grandieri

F Jack Eggleston

C Andreas Schreiber

Tags: Game Updates, yale

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 16th, 2008 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Game Updates, Men's Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.