Gamecenter: Elon 64, Penn 67

Posted on by Jonathan Tannenwald in Gamecenter, Ivy League, Penn
1st 2nd Final
Elon (5-6) 36 28 64
Penn (4-7) 35 32 67
The Palestra – Philadelphia, PA Boxscore
Keys to the Game
Key sequence After Montell Watson made a driving layup with 17:10 left in the game to give Elon a 40-37 lead, Penn launched a 15-2 run over the next 7:42 to take a 52-42 lead. Andreas Schreiber’s putback drew the Quakers within one with a putback, then Harrison Gaines came up with a steal and fed Brian Grandieri for a layup to put Penn in front to stay. Tyler Bernardini’s jumper gave the hosts a three-point lead, and Schreiber added a bucket inside to make it 45-40. Watson got the only two points for the Phoenix during this stretch, but Bernardini would stretch the lead to four with a free throw at the 11:46 mark. Conor Turley dished to Grandieri for a layup, and after two missed three-pointers by the Phoenix, Aron Cohen pulled up for a jumper. Finally, Jack Eggleston’s steal would lead to a fasbreak layup by Remy cofield and a double-digit lead for Penn.
Key sign it was over Penn led 64-57 with just over two minutes left, but Elon’s Brett James dunked on consecutive possessions to cut the Quaker advantage to just three. Gaines missed a jumper with the shot clock winding down, then fouled Watson. However, the Phoenix guard missed the front end of a one-and-one. Penn fan nearly 30 seconds off the shot clock, but Grandieri turned it over. Ola Atoyebi had a chance to bring Elon within a point with 18 seconds left, but his driving layup rimmed out and fell to Bernardini. Chris Long fouled the Quaker freshman, and he coolly drained both free throws to stretch the lead to five. Watson’s three-pointer made it a two-point game with a three-pointer with under five seconds to play. This time, Bernardini missed the first free throw before getting the second one, and Watson’s desperation heave at the buzzer was off the mark, as Penn won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Key performance Bernardini led all scorers by far with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 2 of 4 from three-point range. Of his points, 16 came in the second half, as did his entire 5-of-7 performance from the free throw line.
Key statistic Though Penn allowed Elon to shoot an even 50.0 percent from two-point range (22 of 44), the Quaker offense responded at the other end by making 57.5 percent of its two-point shots. Among the side effects of that was a 34-26 edge in points scored in the paint by the home team.
Notes

– Grandieri was the only other player in double figures for Penn with 13 points.

– James had a team-high 14 points for Elon, while Watson finished with 13.

– The Phoenix shot a blistering 57.7 percent from the field in the first half, but the Quaker defense cracked down in the second 20 minutes, holding the visitors to 37.5-percent shooting after halftime.

– Elon committed only three more turnovers (13) than Penn (10), but the Quakers severely punished the Phoenix for these mistakes, owning a 23-9 edge in points off turnovers.

– The sparse crowd of 3,042 included few students, but did feature former Penn stars Ibrahim Jaaber and Ugonna Onyekwe, both currently playing professional basketball with European clubs.

– With exams complete, Penn will enjoy a few days of winter break before heading to Fort Myers, FL, to face Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, December 29, at 7:00 pm ET.

Jonathan Tannenwald

Jonathan Tannenwald wrote 29 posts

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