City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)

Penn lost its second consecutive game, falling to Navy, 65-59, Wednesday night at the Palestra. The Quakers turned the ball over 18 times, including 11 in the first half, and the Midshipmen scored the game’s final six points.

At first…
Navy got off to a hot start offensively and led the game for host of the first half. That also had a lot to do with Penn’s turnovers, which plagued Steve Donahue’s team for much of the game. The Midshipmen forced 11 takeaways in the first half and converted them into 18 of their 37 first-half points. Penn, meanwhile, had zero points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Turning point…
Navy guard Shawn Anderson hit a basket with 37 seconds left to break a 59-59 tie. The Quakers knotted things up thanks to four straight made free throws from Darien Nelson-Henry, but Penn would not score again the rest of the night.

Shining stars...
Navy had three players split 34 points including guard Tim Abruzzo (Pennridge), who had 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Antonio Woods led Penn with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and shot 7-for-13 from the field. Sam Jones added 12 points, but no other Quaker was in double figures.

Noteworthy numbers…
Penn ended up out-rebounding Navy, 28-27, in the game. However, the Midshipmen grabbed 18 boards to the Quakers’ 11 in the first 20 minutes and they got eight of those on the offensive glass. …Navy converted Penn’s 18 turnovers into 22 points. Penn had just two points off turnovers in the game.

Up next…
Penn (4-3) at George Mason (12/5, 6 p.m.)
Navy (7-2) vs. Oregon (12/7 in Honolulu, Hawaii)