I've been Zach Drapkin from The Palestra, have a good night. Penn plays next Saturday at George Mason as they try to break their two-game losing skid. Navy is now 7-2 after extending their win streak to seven Wednesday night.
So the Penn Quakers came up just short in their comeback bid at the end, falling by six to Navy in a game in which they turned the ball over 18 times. Antonio Woods led all scorers with 16 points.
2nd (0.0) Penn three misses and that is the game. 65-59, Navy claims victory.
2nd (8.4) And he hits on the second as well. Game all but over.
2nd (8.4) Penn fouls. At the line, Kelly knocks down the first free throw of the one-and-one.
2nd (10.3) Woods is short on the second. Remains 63-59.
2nd (10.3) And he misses the first. Not looking good anymore for the Quakers.
2nd (10.3) Woods is fouled. Two shots.
2nd (15.7) Shot number two is good.
2nd (15.7) Anderson at the line hits the first. Timeout, Navy.
2nd (15.7) After another miss, DNH fouls and now a one-and-one for the Midshipmen.
2nd (26.5) And he rims it out but Penn rebounds!
2nd (26.5) Woods draws a foul! One-and-one again for Penn.
2nd (37.5) Timeout Penn.
Penn has never led this entire game.
2nd (42.2) Anderson powers his way to the cup and hits inside! Navy up two and that temporarily drains the crowd energy.
2nd (1:03) DNH hits the clutch frees to tie it at 59. Wow.
2nd (1:03) Foul down low on Kelly! One-and-one again for Nelson-Henry with a chance to tie!
2nd (1:12) Going to the monitor for this call. Penn basketball it stays!
2nd (1:12) Anderson loses it out of bounds! Chance to tie or take the lead for Penn!
2nd (1:38) And Nelson-Henry hits the first and cuts the lead to two with the second.
2nd (1:38) DNH draws the foul, one-and-one now for Penn.
2nd (1:52) Dunbar hits both shots.
2nd (1:52) Foul on Silpe. To the line goes Dunbar.
2nd (2:22) AN ELECTRIFYING ALLEY-OOP ON THE FASTBREAK! WOODS FIRES IT UP TO HOWARD FOR THE FLUSH! 57-55! Timeout Penn.
2nd (2:57) Jake Silpe drives baseline and hits the lay-in! Four-point contest at The Palestra.
2nd (3:41) Media timeout. 57-51, Navy hanging on.
2nd (4:08) Teams trade turnovers.
2nd (4:43) Antonio Woods is on fire! He hits a three to cut it back to six!
2nd (5:07) And Knorr converts.
2nd (5:07) Layup on the other end is good for Knorr and one! Chance for a three-point play now to make it a nine-point lead.
2nd (5:28) Penn forces a big crowd-churning turnover.
2nd (5:51) Woods with another drive left and high shot and score! 54-48.
2nd (6:21) Jump ball in the post on a post move by DNH. Navy timeout. They get possession.
2nd (6:50) Hogan hits the left-side layup on a drive.
2nd (6:57) Media TO.
2nd (7:07) Woods again on the fallaway drive! 52-46, this lead is closing down!
2nd (7:35) Jones hits a three! His fourth of the night!
2nd (8:03) Knorr knocks down a floater. 52-41 Navy.
2nd (8:30) Antonio Woods knocks down a jumper from the left wing.
2nd (9:11) Ambruzzo nearly bounces in another trey.
2nd (9:57) Jace Hogan lays in a far-too-easy putback.
2nd (10:33) Dwyer hits a bucket for Penn. No movement in where this game is going, at least yet.
2nd (10:54) Nourse Fox hits the layup on the drive across the paint.
2nd (11:22) Charge called on Foreman as he attempts a fastbreak layup. Boos coming in as they have for a large chunk of this game, as the crowd is dissatisfied with the refereeing.
2nd (11:56) Out of the break, Nelson-Henry misses the first free throw, but hits the second.
2nd (11:56) Nelson-Henry fouled going up for a layup, media timeout.
2nd (12:22) Fastbreak and lay-in for Abruzzo! 46-36; back to double digits!
2nd (13:38) DNH still sittin' on that bench.
2nd (14:48) Abruzzo back in the game. Heat check time?
2nd (14:59) Dan Dwyer converts inside for Penn!
2nd (15:17) Alade hits a jumper coming off setting a pick.
2nd (15:46) Media timeout.
2nd (16:07) Antonio Woods drives and hits the layup.
2nd (16:27) Edward Alade hits a basket in the paint for Navy.
2nd (16:46) Jamal Lewis just airballed a layup, pretty hard to do that.
2nd (17:34) Jake Silpe sinks both shots. 40-32.
2nd (17:34) Foul on the block by Lacey in the lane. To the line goes Silpe for two shots.
2nd (18:15) Jump ball on Penn's offensive paint. Quakers ball.
2nd (18:45) Tom Lacey makes it to the line and misses a pair.
2nd (18:57) Another triple for Sam Jones! 40-30 now the score.
2nd (19:15) Kelly answer with a bucket inside.
2nd (19:35) Quick bucket on the other end for Antonio Woods off the feed from Silpe.
2nd (19:45) Dunbar knocks down one of two.
2nd (19:45) Foul drawn by Tilman Dunbar, he'll shoot two.
2nd (20:00) The second half has begun.
We'll be back for second-half action when it approaches. Hope you're enjoying this LIVE coverage of Navy at Penn from The Palestra!
1st (0.0) Foreman's drive and kick is stolen, but on the other end the layup is missed at the buzzer by Navy. 37-25 at the half.
1st (32.0) Anderson drives and hits the high shot from inside!
1st (52.5) Timeout Navy.
1st (1:09) Three ball is good once again for Abruzzo! Navy up 10 again!
1st (1:27) Foreman hits both. 32-25.
1st (1:27) Darnell Foreman makes his way to the line to shoot two.
1st (1:47) One-and-one for Hogan on a loose ball foul. He sinks the first shot, proceeds to drain the second.
1st (2:05) He makes the second of the pair at the stripe.
1st (2:05) Woods draws a foul in transition, he'll go to the line for two.
1st (2:53) Jump ball on Navy's offensive end, possession to Penn.
1st (3:05) Max Rothschild with a nice reverse layup! 30-22.
1st (3:43) Media timeout on the floor. Another slow first half for Penn, 30-20 lead for Navy at the moment.
1st (4:07) Silpe hits both free throws.
1st (4:07) Silpe draws the foul on a drive, he'll head to the line.
1st (4:30) Trifecta for Abruzzo. 30-18.
1st (4:54) Going right back down, up-and-down travel by Dwyer.
1st (5:06) Traveling on Anderson in the lane, as he fumbled the ball up on a spin move to the hoop.
1st (6:00) Three for Sam Jones!
1st (6:26) Great block by Dan Dwyer, Penn gets the ball on the scramble.
1st (6:51) Penn forced to take a timeout after trouble inbounding the ball on their offensive baseline.
1st (7:10) Pullup three falls for Dunbar. 27-15 Navy, so much for Penn being favorites in my eyes.
1st (7:33) He makes the first, second falls out but a foul by Penn makes it Navy possession once again.
1st (7:33) Anderson splits the Penn D to draw a foul and earn two shots.
Already 8 Penn turnovers to Navy's 4. 10 points off turnovers for the Midshipmen, none for the home side.
1st (7:55) Airball at the end of the shot clock, shot clock violation by Penn takes us into another media timeout.
1st (8:25) Kelly splits the trip to the stripe.
1st (8:25) Nelson-Henry called for a questionable shooting foul, as he seemed to block a reverse layup by Kelly. Two shots.
1st (9:13) Knorr hits both FTs.
1st (9:13) Shooting foul on Woods, to the line now goes Kendall Knorr.
1st (9:48) Hogan hits another awkward J. 21-15.
1st (10:35) Great cut by Woods and DNH finds him for the deuce.
1st (10:48) Turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass by Woods, but turnover on the other end by Navy.
Navy easily outpacing and outdueling the Quakers inside to get out to this early advantage.
1st (10:58) Media TO. 19-13 Navy.
1st (11:43) Hogan converts a bucket inside.
1st (12:07) Silpe takes it in hard on the break but his lay-in comes up short.
1st (13:19) Light press from both sides here.
1st (13:19) And-one for Jones! He converts a layup AND the free throw. 17-13.
1st (13:34) Jace Hogan now on the board, as he hits a turnaround jumper.
1st (14:05) Sam Jones gets on the board with a nice cut and layup.
1st (14:25) Tim Abruzzo hits a three off the Anderson feed. 15-8.
1st (15:17) Turnovers are killing Penn right now.
1st (15:25) Another second-chance score for Navy, Anderson puts one up and back in.
1st (15:56) First media timeout. 10-8 Navy and this one is fast-paced to start.
1st (16:40) Nelson-Henry fouled inside and he makes the bucket! And-one will count and he hits the free throw.
1st (16:30) Dunk quickly for Kelly.
1st (16:50) Navy hits a long two (Dunbar). Penn comes back the other way for a layup of their own (Howard).
1st (17:08) Carrying by the Quakers back to Navy.
1st (17:40) Matt Howard hits from deep to get Penn on the board.
1st (18:15) Fastbreak and second-chance bucket for Knorr. 6-0.
1st (18:40) Dunbar scores for Navy.
1st (19:15) Bucket for Shawn Anderson to open the scoring for the Midshipmen.
1st (19:40) Turnover by Navy on first possession.
And here we have tipoff! Navy wins it, and they'll be heading right to left across your keyboard!
Lights are OUT for the hype video. Here come the Pennsyvania Quakers!
What a historic site that is at The Palestra. Now the lineup announcements and introductions.
National anthem upcoming in approximately a half-minute.
15 minutes until introductions.
This Navy team will look to extends its six-game winning streak to seven after a dominant victory in the Spartan Showcase, in which Shawn Anderson was named Spartan Showcase Most Outstanding Player and Will Kelly also made the All-Tournament Team.
Not yet many here in the crowd at The Palestra, but that's sure to change as gametime approaches.
G Jake Silpe, G Antonio Woods, F Sam Jones, F Matt Howard, C Darien Nelson-Henry
And now Penn:
G Kendall Knorr, G Tilman Dunbar, G Shawn Anderson, F Tom Lacey, C Will Kelly
Tonight's starting 5s, starting with Navy:
Teams right now on court stretching and warming up. Game set for 7:03 PM EST tip.
I'll be LIVE from The Palestra Wednesday evening for this bout, so stick around with VAVEL USA for all the game coverage of Navy - Penn at 7:00 PM EST.
Focus inside to contain that three-headed frontcourt attack from the Quakers. Attack with Anderson as much as possible, and force Penn into shooting low-percentage shots from outside. The Quakers are 306th in the nation with a woeful 28.5 percent conversion rate from downtown, and there's no reason to believe that will drastically change Wednesday.
Here are my three keys to the game for Navy:
First and foremost, attack like the team has all season with the DNH-lead frontcourt. Navy is a defensive team, so you'll need to attack strength on the Midshipmen's three-guard lineup. Next, contain the guards on the other end -- possibly play a zone up top to contain penetration and kick-outs. And lastly, use height and physicality to bully Navy's players around inside to control the boards and therefore, the tempo.
Here are my three keys to the game for Penn:
Navy took down IPFW to claim their sixth win of the season on Sunday, shooting 54.4 percent from the field to down the Mastodons, 75-53. Jace Hogan had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Anderson scored 15. After battling through the majority of the first 20 minutes, the Midshipmen pulled away, ending the half on a 16-2 run that would keep them in the lead the rest of the way through.
After that kind of result last season, Penn would already be favorites, and now with their improvement in a plethora of statistic and strategic areas this campaign, including efficiency improvements (in assist//turnover ratio and shooting clip) through the roof. Home at The Palestra with new and on-fire coach Steve Donahue, this one would seem to be in the bag for the Quakers, but with Navy having that they are and Penn lately falling into deep first-half holes, there's upset potential poking right out. Don't be surprised to see this matchup head to the final seconds.
This matchup between Navy and Penn is the most-played by the Quakers against teams outside the Ivy League and Big 5. Penn leads the series with an all-time head-to-head record against the Midshipmen of 58-24, including a 57-46 win one day less than a year ago in Annapolis. The teams have not played at The Palestra since 2008, when Navy took the 76-65 away 'W'.
The Quakers face another Patriot League team Wednesday in Navy, another team whose leading guard, Anderson, could prove lethal against an inexperienced backcourt overshadowed by DNH, Jones, and Matt Howard in the frontcourt. The 6-4 sophomore leads the Midshipmen with 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in 28.3 minutes per contest.
On Sunday, however, Penn unexpectedly found itself down just minutes in at in-state Lafayette, and while Nelson-Henry had 20 points and nine boards and Antonio Woods scored 17, a late surge that featured five buckets for Woods in six Quakers possessions fell just short, as two Leopards free throws within the final ten seconds set the final score at 92-86, not in Penn's favor.
Nelson-Henry has really been a gem to this point in the season, as he has single-handedly kept the Quakers in games as well as powered them to key victories, such as their 80-64 Thanksgiving Eve win over in-Philly rivals La Salle. In that game, DNH dropped 31 points and added 14 rebounds for a monster double-double. Additionally, Sam Jones scored 18 in that game, hitting four three-pointers to build off his strong start to the season, for which he won the Ivy League Player of the Week and Big 5 Player of the Week awards opening weekend. Nelson-Henry won that same Big 5 award this past week.
This contest is sure to be an interesting one between Navy, a team currently 3-0 in away games, and the Quakers, who sit at 3-0 when hosting teams at The Palestra. Shawn Anderson and Jace Hogan lead the Midshipmen into this one as the team's leading scorers while star senior big man Darien Nelson-Henry and rookie stud Sam Jones will try to bring Penn a key victory.
Hello everybody, I'm Zach Drapkin, an editor here at VAVEL USA, and I'll be bringing you live play-by-play updates of Wednesday night's college basketball matchup between the Navy Midshipmen (6-2) and the Penn Quakers (4-2). Tipoff time is at 7:00 at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.