Philly Leader

The University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team knocked off flu-ridden Columbia on the road last week by a score of 81-66, fueled by a 23-point performance by former Ivy League Rookie of the Year Jordan Dingle.

It was frustrating from the beginning for the Columbia Lions who had several players out with the flu, according to gocolumbialions.com. After Coach Jim Engles was given a technical foul for arguing a call, the Quakers started the game off hot with an 11-2 start and went up 19-4 at one point. This fast start set the tone off the game for Penn, who controlled the tempo most of the time and played at their preferred, slowed down pace. 

“We have to be more disciplined in a bunch of things,” Engles said after the game. 

The Quakers were up by 15 points in the first half, but then Columbia went on a 12-4 run making it 23-16 with about seven minutes left in the half. The game came within one point at 28-27 with 2:10 on the clock following a three-pointer by Cameron Shockley-Okeke of Columbia, but then the Quakers went on another run to end the half with a 35-27 lead.

The second half started off hot for the Quakers again, who scored 46 points in the second half, cruising to victory. This was the highest scoring half of the season. It was just the second time this season that the Quakers have hit the 80-point mark, with the last happening against Lafayette on Nov. 16.

It was a strong all-around game for the Quakers who improved to 8-0 this season when leading at the half, according to pennathletics.com. The Quakers set several milestones, tying their season high with 19 assists while only turning over the ball nine times. Penn also tied a season high with 34 field goals made. The team also outrebounded the Lions 47-42, which set a team high for Penn. 

Dingle was the scoring leader for Penn for the third straight game with 23 points, and also had five assists and five rebounds. Junior Michael Moshkovitz set a career high with 13 rebounds to go with his six points, five assists and two steals. In just 13 minutes sophomore Andrew Laczkowski scored 12 points and had four rebounds.

Leading the Lions was Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa with 21 points and Shockley-Okeke with 20 points.

Quaker coach Steve Donahue was happy with the strong play of his squad.

“Come out, play hard, don’t worry about mistakes and good things happen,” Donahue said to the Daily Pennsylvanian.

While Penn only has an 8-12 record, the win improved Penn to 6-2 in Ivy League play.