Quakers Demolish M. Cagers, 81-62

The scene at Briggs Cage last night was ugly.

Sure, no one expected the Harvard men's basketball team to have any luck against Pennsylvania, the leader in the Ancient Eight and the sure bet this year to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament.

But watching a blowout, even when you know it's coming, isn't too much fun.

Quaker sophomore guard Scott Kegler scored a career-high 16 points and his classmate forward Eric Moore added 15 to lead Pennsylvania to its seventh straight win, 81-62, over Harvard last night.

The Quakers improved their record to 16-4 overall, 8-0 in the Ivies, keeping their league unbeaten streak intact and breezing through another easy victory.

On the other side of the court (and the win-loss column), the Crimson, which faltered in its third straight game, dropped to 4-17 overall, 1-8 Ivy. Harvard has now lost nine of its last 10 contests, and there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of this long tunnel of a season.

One bright spot this year has been the play of Captain Tyler Rullman. The senior led the Crimson in scoring again last night, dropping in 16 points.

Rullman got help from rookie forward Darren Rankin (14 points) who has been solid all season as well.

But this game was never even close.

The Quakers led by as many as 33 points, 66-33 with 8:54 remaining in the second half. Then, Penn Coach Fran Dunphy decided to stop some of the bleeding and handed the game over to his reserves.

Harvard knew it was in trouble right from the start. The Crimson grabbed its only lead when senior center Arturo Llopis put back a Rankin miss underneath 24 seconds into the game. The Quakers knotted the game up on individual free throws by sophomore Shawn Trice and junior Barry Pierce before going ahead for good just two minutes into the contest on a three-point bomb by Pierce.

The Crimson could handle neither the athletic mismatch nor the ball, committing nine turnovers in the first half and connecting on only 11 of 32 shots. The Quaker lead grew to as much as 20 points in the opening 20 minutes before settling for the 40-24 halftime advantage.

But Penn opened the second stanza with a devastating 16-5 run that Harvard could not answer.

This was the fifth straight time that the Quakers sunk the Crimson, as Penn also completed a season sweep of the Harvard.

Of course this year, sweeping the Crimson has not posed too much of a problem for any Ivy League team, and the Quakers are off to their best season start since 1978-79.

AP wire reports contributed to the writing of this article. PENNSYLVANIA, 81-62 at Briggs Cage Penn  40  41  --  81 Harvard  24  38  --  62

PENN: Pierce 2-9 2-3 7, Trice 2-2 1-2 5, Moore 7-10 1-4 15, Maloney 5-10 0-0 13, Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Baratta 3-4 0-0 6, Krug 3-6 2-4 8, Kegler 6-10 1-1 16, Moxley 0-2 0-0 0, Laster 1-2 0-0 2, Warden 2-2 0-0 4, Hans 1-2 0-0 2, Guthrie 0-0 0-0 0, Metz 0-0 1-2 1, Totals 33-60 8-16 81.

HARVARD: Rullman 4-14 6-7 16, Rankin 7-13 0-0 14, Llopis 5-7 2-3 12, Gilmore 0-4 0-0 0, Campbell 1-11 9-10 11, White 2-11 1-1 5, Kubielt 0-1 0-0 0.

PENN: Pierce 2-9 2-3 7, Trice 2-2 1-2 5, Moore 7-10 1-4 15, Maloney 5-10 0-0 13, Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Baratta 3-4 0-0 6, Krug 3-6 2-4 8, Kegler 6-10 1-1 16, Moxley 0-2 0-0 0, Laster 1-2 0-0 2, Warden 2-2 0-0 4, Hans 1-2 0-0 2, Guthrie 0-0 0-0 0, Metz 0-0 1-2 1, Totals 33-60 8-16 81.

HARVARD: Rullman 4-14 6-7 16, Rankin 7-13 0-0 14, Llopis 5-7 2-3 12, Gilmore 0-4 0-0 0, Campbell 1-11 9-10 11, White 2-11 1-1 5, Kubielt 0-1 0-0 0.