Penn got off to a slow start, but their defense was able to able to stop any momentum Marist tried to gain. It was 10-4 Quakers halfway into the first, but the offense exploded after that to push it to 24-4 with 5:13 left in the half.
The Red Foxes started off 0-for-11 from three point range before getting one to fall and only finished with 4 made three pointers off an absurd 28 attempts.
Team captains Darien Nelson-Henry and Tony Hicks only combined for 9 total points, but coach Jerome Allen was able to empty the bench and still pick up the 17 point victory. Greg Louis was 1 rebound away from a double-double with a 13-9 stat line.
K.J Lee was the high scorer for Marist, which shot only 21.2% from the field, with 15 points.
High energy freshman Mike Auger missed his fifth consecutive game tonight, but did have the boot off his leg during practice and could return to the lineup in 2 weeks at Vanderbilt.
Even though the Quakers trounced the Red Foxes tonight (do we really need the 'Red'?) coach Allen was aware that the team did not look exceptionally good in doing so. "I wanna win, not because of luck defensively, but because we execute the game plan." Allen said, addressing Marist's struggles to make shots.
While Allen was happy with the win, he was still able to pick out pieces of Penn's game that need some fine tuning. "I'm trying to get my team better, which is why I'm going to talk about the 14 turnovers in the second half and not just say 'we've arrived because we won three in a row'."
Allen will have plenty of time to work with his team, as they have a 13 day break before their next game, which is December 22 at Vanderbilt. Some of that time will be dedicated to finals though. Remember, these kids will probably be your boss in the near future.
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat