EASTON, Pa. - In a game that featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes, Penn outlasted Lafayette 78-73 on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center. Jim Mower's 20 points and Ryan Willen's second double-double of the season were not enough for the Leopards, who lost their third consecutive game.

Willen finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds as he and Mower each were a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line, part of an 18-for-20 team effort from the stripe.

Penn took a 13-7 lead out of the gate prior to Lafayette scoring seven straight points to take a 14-13 lead at 10:45. The spurt included a lay-in in traffic by Les Smith and a three-point play by Willen on a jumper from just inside the arc. Zack Rosen's trey ended the mini-run and put the Quakers back ahead 16-14 with 10:13 showing.

A backdoor feed from Smith to Mower and his reverse lay-in pulled Lafayette within one at 20-19 before Rosen scored five consecutive points to put the Quakers up 25-19 at the 8:44 mark. Steve Rennard's steal and layup gave Penn its largest first-half lead (27-19). Five free throws from Mower, who scored 10 in the first 20 minutes, cut the deficit to three with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Rosen led all first-half scorers with 13 points.

Penn's Tyler Bernardini knocked down two three's surrounding Joey Ptasinski's triple and Penn held a 33-27 lead with 2:58 on the first-half clock. Bernardini was one of four players in dopuble figures, finishing with 17.

Lafayette ripped off a 9-0 run to end the half sparked by Seth Hinrichs' top of the key long ball and back-to-back three's from Ptasinski, giving Lafayette a 36-33 halftime advantage.

The visitors scored the first six out of the break to go up 39-36 but then Lafayette went on an 11-2 run, forcing a Penn timeout 4:09 into the second half. Willen connected on two corner threes to ignite the stretch, while Mower netted the next five on a baseline jumper and wing three putting Lafayette up 47-41.

Fourteen of the next 16 points came from the free throw line, 11 from the visitors, tying the score at 52. Both teams reached the bonus at the 13:44 mark of the half.

Lafayette regained the lead 54-52 on Willen's off balance bucket in the lane, but Miles Cartwright hit a corner three on the next Penn possession to go back up 55-54 at 9:10. Dan Trist then used a spin move and pump fake for two as Lafayette went back in front by one, 56-55.

The teams traded baskets until Rosen's three-pointer broke the 59-59 deadlock.Rosen netted a game-high 24 on four three-pointers and added four assists that made him Penn's all-time assist leader, surpassing his head coach Jerome Allen.

Two Rob Delaney free throws cut it to one at 6:04 when both teams were in the double-bonus. Consecutive Rob Belcore layups gave the Quakers a five-point edge before two successful trips to the line for Willen made it 66-65 at 4:17. Two three's from Bernardini and Cartwright provided Penn its biggest lead since the 6:02 mark of the opening half.

Trailing 72-65 with the shot clock at two, Mower rattled home a fadeaway corner three to close the gap to four with 1:55 remaining. A Penn traveling violation gave the ball back to Lafayette with 44 seconds to play and Nick Petkovich drained a three to cut the deficit to 72-71 with 29.1 on the clock.

Two free throws from Rosen, a quick Delaney layup and two more Rosen freebies made the score 76-73 with 28 seconds left. Mower misfired on two contested three-point attempts on the final possession as Lafayette dropped its third consecutive game.

Lafayette opens Patriot League play at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Navy. The game can be seen on GoLeopards.com.

NOTES: Lafayette shot 18-of-20 (90%) from the line, its best effort of the season. Freshman Dan Trist started his fifth game of the season, scoring seven points in 18 minutes.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.05.2012

Games played Wednesday, January 4, 2012

High School Girls

Delta New Year’s Tournament

• St. Vincent 42, Delta 35
• Meadow Heights 55, Woodland 40
• Scott County Central 57, Chaffee 38

NCAA Men

• Penn, 78, Lafayette 73
• Temple 78, Duke 73
• Kansas 67, Kansas State 49
• Georgetown 73, Marquette 70
• Murray State 76. E Kentucky 67
• Memphis 69. Tennessee 51
• Saint Louis 72, Dayton 79
• Illinois State 68, Missouri State 60 

NCAA Women

• Baylor 90, Missouri 46
• Notre Dame 74, Seton Hall 36

Tonight

• Dexter vs Notre Dame at the BEC
• Advance @ Bernie
• Henderson State (Women)) vs Southwestern Oklahoma
• Missouri S&T (Women) at University of Southern Indiana
• SEMO (Men) at UT Martin

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - The Twin Rivers Royals played host to the Bernie Mules on Tuesday night . Despite a sloppy second half, the Mules were able to slow down Michael Snider and the Royals to take the 61-52 victory.

Both teams were in their first games since the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. The Mules were able to bring home fifth place, while the Royals were eliminated in the consolation semifinals.


The one-two punch of Matt Eaves and David Baker paced the Mules with 20 and 17 respective points, while Sam Turner added 14 points.

“It was kind of the tale of two halves for us. We played pretty well in the first half and not very well in the second,” Bernie head coach Brad Botsch said. “When our group is focused, driven, and passionate, we compete very well. We just need to find consistency for four quarters and earn a complete win.”

The Mules are heading into the heart of their conference schedule in the coming weeks, and Botsch noted the difficult games looming on the horizon.

“We have 4 conference games in a row now with Advance, Dexter, Bloomfield, and Puxico,” he continued, “and we will need a great amount of focus and buy-in from our kids to win them. Hopefully, we’ll do what we need to do in this stretch and put together a solid run.”

In JV action, the Mules were able to down the Royals with a 69-30 final score.

The Mules will be in action again on Thursday night, when they return home to face the Advance Hornets. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.

Photo Above:
David Baker puts up a shot against a Portageville defender during the second round of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament - SMT File photo by Andrew Cato.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.04.2012

Games played Tuesday, January 3, 2012

High School Girls

• Delta New Year’s Tournament
• St. Vincent 52, Scott County Central 31
• Delta 48, Chaffee 32
• Woodland 63. Saxony Lutheran 48

High School Boys

• North Pemiscot 66, Richland 56
• Bernie 61, Twin Rivers 52
• Scott City 64, South Pemiscot 26
• Perryville 69, North County 74
• NMCC 58, Blytheville 56 (OT)
• Bell City 73, East Prairie 66
• Notre Dame 57, Fredericktown 31
• Jackson 52, Leopold 51
• Kennett 57, Malden 44
• Naylor 69, Campbell 56
• Hayti 53, Senath-Hornersville 39
• Doniphan 68, Greenville 34

NCAA Men

• Mizzou 87, Oklahoma 49
• Kentucky 73, AR-Little Rock 51
• Ohio State 71, Nebraska 40
• Seton Hall 75, Connecticut 63
• Michigan State 63, Wisconsin 60
• Fordham 60, Harvard 54

Tonight

• Mizzou Women at Baylor
• Layfayette vs. Penn

Photo Above: It was a packed house at Mizzou Arena on Tuesday night as the Mizzou Tigers overwhelmed Oklahoma to keep its perfect season record! (Photo courtesy UM)

NEWARK, N.J. - Lafayette never snapped a cold-shooting funk on Monday against NJIT, losing a 78-58 decision to open 2012. The Leopards shot a season-low 20 percent from long distance while NJIT knocked down 13 three-pointers.

It was the first win for the Highlanders (6-7) in the five-game series with Lafayette that began in 2006. Four-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Seth Hinrichs led Lafayette (5-9) with 14 points to go along with a team-high five rebounds and two blocks. NJIT's Chris Flores had five three-pointers en route to 23 points and was joined in double figures by and Arjun Ohri with a career-high 19 and Isaiah Wilkerson with 17.

It was a back and forth affair in the opening stanza. The teams were tied on eight different occasions, the final at 4:08 when Ryan Willen (11 points) hit a jumper. The Highlanders scored the final nine points of the half with Ohri hitting a pair of three's and Flores adding another at 1:06 to lead 34-25 at halftime. Ohri had 11 in the first half.

Lafayette shot 35 percent from the floor in the opening half, including 27 percent (4-for-15) from three where NJIT shot 58 percent (7-for-12). Lafayette never made it to the bonus in the first half, taking just four free throws in the opening stanza, eventually reaching the bonus with 2:35 left in the game.

NJIT opened the second half with five unanswered, all from Ryan Woods, to extend the lead to 39-25 just 1:04 in. The Leopards trimmed the margin to nine on a backdoor feed from Willen to Jim Mower (nine points) who converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 39-30 with 17:46 left.

The Highlanders used an 8-2 run over a two-minute span midway through the second half to take a commanding lead 58-39 lead at 9:05, an advantage NJIT extended to as many as 27 points in the final minutes. Alan Flannigan scored five points in the final 24 seconds, including his first career three-pointer at the buzzer, to run the final to 78-58.

Lafayette hosts Penn on Wednesday in a doubleheader at Kirby Sports Center. The Lafayette women host Columbia beginning at 5 p.m. and the men will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game.