Last night, I was courtside at the Palestra to bring you live commentary of the Big 5 Hall of Fame Game between Penn and Saint Joseph's. After the jump, you'll find my running commentary of the scene at a sold-out Palestra as the night unfolded. It wasn't so much a play-by-play, though there was definitely some of that. Instead, it was more about the atmosphere, like the rollouts and the chants the student sections come up with.
Start reading the commentary by jumping to the bottom of the post, then make your way up to the top.
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FINAL: Penn 84, St. Joe's 74. Here's the box score.
0:30 2nd: Tommy McMahon fouls Ahmad Nivins, and everyone in the house knows the game’s over.
0:56 2nd: Steve Danley fouls out. I'd say Penn can start the buses but they can walk home.
1:04 2nd: Penn calls its last timeout. St. Joe's unfurls its last rollout, and it's exactly what I expected: "The Hawk Will Never Die."
1:11 2nd: Nivins puts back a missed Calathes 3 to make it 79-72 and is fouled by Mark Zoller (his fourth) but the free throw is no good.
1:49 2nd: Penn calls timeout after a Brian Grandieri 3 makes it 77-72. The Hawks fans seem really on edge, screaming at the refs every time a call doesn't go their way. Nonetheless, I can't see Penn winning this game unless St. Joe's misses every shot from here on out, which I don't think will happen.
4:43 2nd: Garrett Williamson fouls out having scored only two points. Nivins is the main man tonight, though, and he only has two fouls.
3:23 2nd: Rob Ferguson hits two free throws to put SJU up by 11, 75-64. The SJU students have one rollout left by my count. I think I know what ti is, but we'll wait and see.
6:28 2nd: Another SJU rollout: "This is our house." Fine, but isn't Villanova the team that keeps coming in here and winning? And didn't St. Joe's lose to Drexel on this floor a few months back?
9:21 2nd: Rob Ferguson gets his own rebound and puts it back, then Rivera steals the ball and lays it in to make it 62-51. Penn calls timeout, and this game is getting close to being decided.
11:59 2nd: Another St. Joe's rollout during the media timeout: "Please, keep your box in its box." Oh my goodness. (if you don't get it click here.) Penn does one a few seconds later that's far less edgy (again, in a two-line format): "Bald Eagle: National Bird / Bald Hawk: Phil Martelli."
12:07 2nd: A putback by Ahmad Nivins pushes the Hawks' lead to 54-46. The St. Joe's fans chant "This is our house."
12:25 2nd: Penn's Brennan Votel blocks D.J. Rivera’s attempt at slam. The shot clock is reset, and Penn coach Glen Miller protests that it wasn't supposed to be. The SJU students chant “Stop your whining” and “Sit down, shut up.” Penn responds with “Stop your cheating." The shot clock is set to 24 seconds and Phil Martelli protests. The Penn fans chant -- very loudly, I might add -- "Nova rejects." SJU fans chant "Nova sucks." Penn wins that round, I have to say. The SJU fans start chanting "We get laid." Whether or not that's true, that's some chant from a school of SJU's... to put it one way... religious denomination.
14:32 2nd: Garrett Williamson picks up his first foul. He comes out and D.J. Rivera makes his first appearance of the night.
15:50 2nd: Penn has five fouls already as Kevin Egee fouls Garrett Williamson going up. He hits both free throws to make it 48-44 St. Joe's
18:22 2nd: Miller's jacket is back on, which sort of surprises me.
Halftime stats: Penn is 14-of-31 from the field, including 2-of-12 from 3, with 11 assists. 7-of-12 from the line. Eight offensive rebounds, 19 overall. Five turnovers, including four by Jaaber, and four steals recorded, of which Jaaber had two.
St. Joe's is 14-of-28 from the field, including 3-of-10 from 3, with five assists. 5-of-7 from the line. Four offensive rebounds, 15 overall. Seven turnovers, including two each by Carter and Govens. Two steals recorded. Two blocked shots, one by Nivins and one by Ferguson.
Penn has an 18-16 advantage in points in the paint and an 11-4 edge in points off turnovers. The score was tied four times and the lead changed nine times.
HALFTIME: Everything's finely balanced as Penn takes a 37-36 lead into the locker room. 20 more minutes like this will be quite a lot of fun. Stats to come shortly.
6:12 first: Penn retakes the lead, 25-24, as Tommy McMahon slips a backdoor pass from inside the left side of the arc to Brian Grandieri, who hits the layup.
7:49 first: During the media timeout, the Hatfield hot dogs mascot comes out and shoots hot dogs and t-shirts into the crowd. The Penn kids throw the stuff that comes their way back, prompting a warning from P.A. announcer Brian Startare. SJU's second rollout: "Fran never liked you nerds anyway."
9:09 first: Nivins picks up his second foul and is replaced by Rockwell Moody (what a name). Williamson picks up his third foul as Jaaber drives to the basket but can't get the bucket. He makes the first FT but misses the second.
9:34 first: Miller's jacket is off. About on schedule for a close game, I'd say. It's 21-16 SJU.
11:15 first: Penn's first rollout of the night, in two lines: "Not your average Joe’s... / They’re much, much worse."
14:12 1st: Mark Zoller airballs short a layup falling away, but it falls right into Ibby Jaaber's hands who puts it in off the glass and is fouled by Carter. It's his second foul and Jaaber hits the free throw making it 11-6 Penn. At the other end, Carter hits a 3 to make it 11-9.
15:57 first: The night's first rollout comes from St. Joe's, and it's the first multi-color rollout I've ever seen: "Penn: [in black] Dunph'ed by your only Fran [in red]." I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult.
16:09 first: Garrett Williamson picks up his second foul, and is subbed out for Darren Govens.
16:57 first: This won't surprise anyone, but Glen Miller is the much more emotive of the two coaches. Martelli paces, either with his arms crossed or behind is back, while Miller gesture a lot and occasionally watches the game crouching.
The starting lineups:
For Penn (tonight's visiting team):
F 3 Steve Danley
F 24 Mark Zoller (who gets a huge ovation after his game-winning free throws Tuesday against Temple)
G 15 Kevin Egee
G 21 Brian Grandieri
G 2 Ibrahim Jaaber
For St. Joe's:
F 52 Rob Ferguson
F 12 Pat Calathes
F 34 Ahmad Nivins
G 23 Garrett Williamson
G 3 Jawan Carter
5:15 to go until tip: And there's no doubt about it, the Penn fans are way outnumbered as the Hawks take the floor, then Penn about 30 seconds later. There are St. Joe's fans up behind the Penn students, even.
7:00 to go until tip: Though the game is sold out, a decent number of the seats in the 200 level haven't been filled yet. Penn's students got here in a reasonable number before tip, at least by their standards, but I'd still say there are at least twice as many St. Joe's students across the floor. The Penn fans tried a "This is our house" chant a few minutes ago and got shouted down in a hurry. No surprise there.
