Penn’s Jordan Sends WSU To Second Shootout Defeat

Michael Jordan led all scorers with 16 points and hit three consecutive jump shots in the fourth quarter to lift Pennsylvania to a 69-67 victory over Washington State in the second round of the Thanksgiving San Juan Shootout on Saturday.

Jordan’s play before a crowd of 103 was one of the improvements that allowed Penn to come back from Friday’s loss to Dayton, said coach Fran Dunphy.

“Yesterday, he made some shaky decisions and today he made good decisions,” said Dunphy. “When he makes good decisions, we’re a good team.”

Paul Romanczuk added 15 points for the Quakers (2-2) and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Rodrigo de la Fuente, a senior swingman from Spain, again was the top scorer for the Cougars (2-2) with 15 points. Carlos Daniel added 14, and Chris Crosby and Leif Nelson each contributed 11.

The game was tied at the end of the first and second quarters. But three straight jumpers by Jordan, including a 3-pointer, brought Penn back from a six-point deficit and gave the Quakers the lead with 3:13 to play.

Romanczuk then added three free throws and a layup on a strong drive to the basket to finish off the scoring for Penn.

The Cougars got the ball back with 17 seconds to play and a chance to send the game to overtime, but Daniel’s shot rimmed out.

It was the second close loss in as many days for Washington State, which entered the tournament as the second seed. On Friday, the Cougars lost in overtime to South Florida.

Penn 69, WSU 67

WASHINGTON STATE (2-2) - Pengelly 0-1 0-0 0, de la Fuente 6-11 2-2 15, Daniel 4-8 6-8 14, Crosby 4-4 2-2 11, Slotemaker 2-2 1-2 5, Kazadi 2-3 1-2 5, Mensah-Bonsu 1-1 4-4 6, Nelson 5-8 1-2 11. Totals 24-38 17-22 67.

PENNSYLVANIA (2-1) - Brown 4-7 0-0 8, Kreitz 2-5 0-0 5, Jordan 7-14 1-2 16, Ryan 2-9 5-6 9, Sanger 1-7 1-2 3, Mboya 0-3 0-0 0, Langel 6-10 0-0 13, Plummer 0-2 0-0 0, Romanczuk 5-9 5-8 15. Totals 27-66 12-18 69.

WSU 16 21 18 12 - 67

Pennsylvania 16 21 14 18 - 69

3-Point goals-Washington St. 2-5 (Crosby 1-1, de la Fuente 1-2, Pengelly 0-1, Kazadi 0-1), Penn 3-13 (Langel 1-2, Kreitz 1-3, Jordan 1-4, Romanczuk 0-1, Ryan 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Washington St. 28 (de la Fuente, Nelson 5), Penn 32 (Romanczuk 8). Assists-Washington St. 10 (Pengelly 3), Penn 12 (Kreitz, Plummer 3). Total fouls-Washington St. 21, Penn 20. A-103.