Soft Pretzel Logic

I can't promise this will work all night, but we're going to try. Welcome to the Palestra's first game of the year, as Penn faces Drexel.

I'm fairly sure, looking at the crowd, that this is Drexel's home game. The Penn student section is even smaller than I expected it to be, while Drexel's is at least twice as big and goes all the way up to the last row behind the east basket.

I plan on blogging this game much the same way as I did last year's Penn-St. Joe's game. I won't be telling you about all the baskets, but will instead be focusing on the atmosphere -- the rollouts, creative chants, and so forth.

Off we go with our first game of the year...

Here are the starting lineups:

Drexel

G 0 Tramayne Hawthorne (junior)
G 3 Scott Rodgers (junior)
G 23 Jamie Harris (freshman)
F 25 Randy Oveneke (senior)
C 15 Frank Elegar (senior)

Penn

F 24 Jack Eggleston (freshman)
F 33 Cameron Lewis (junior)
G 5 Darren Smith (sophomore)
G 14 Michael Kach (senior)
G 21 Brian Grandieri (senior)

17:59 1st, 5-1 Drexel: I am fairly sure this is the last thing Glen Miller wanted. Here we are barely two minutes into the game and Brian Grandieri has two fouls already. Senior Aron Cohen comes in to replace him.

17:09 1st, 7-3 Drexel: Penn gets its first field goal of the game, a dunk by Cameron Lewis. They are counted as field goals, I guess

16:27 1st, 10-6 Drexel: An actual field goal, a three by Cohen that bounces on the rim three times before falling in. Rodgers responds with a three of his own.

15:46 1st, 10-6 Drexel: Media timeout, and Bruiser Flint has cursed at least twice in his first five seconds of talking. We have a rollout from Penn: "Drexel University Men's Basketball / You're D.U.M.B.," and a two-roll rollout from the Drexel fans at the same time: "THERE's NO DEBATE... / AT PENN"

I think Drexel wins that round, but if you want to really be creative you can say that Drexel is far closer to the presidency right now than Penn has been since 1828.

And there is, finally, what looks like a Penn student section. Some day, they might arrive before the game starts.

11:32 1st, 22-13 Drexel: Nothing much at the moment, but I wanted to relay something I saw before the game. Someone from (I believe) the Drexel athletic department was walking around near the press room with a trophy that had a Drexel pom-pom and a Penn pom-pom in the cup and what I suspected was a street sign sticking out of it.

Then I saw the other side of the thing, and that's indeed what it was. The sign said "33rd ST," meaning that this so-called "Battle of 33rd Street" apparently has more than just bragging rights to it.

You tell me which prize is more substantive...

7:26 1st, 32-17 Drexel: I will get to that scoreline later, but for the second time tonight both student sections unveil rollouts at the same time. First, from Penn: "You can't spell Flint without N-I-T." And from Drexel: "OATMEAL: NOT THE ONLY SOFT QUAKER PRODUCT"

The edge just barely goes to Penn, I think, in an attempt to credit Drexel's good shooting instead of knocking Penn's clearly inexperienced defense.

And in an attempt to keep things clean.

Halftime, 37-24 Drexel: Word around here is that Bruiser Flint had his team practice here yesterday, and it paid off in a big way in the first half. Drexel shot 42.9 percent from the field, including 6-of-12 from three-point range.

Tramayne Hawthorne leads all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three. Most of those looks were pretty open. Aron Cohen was Penn's leading scorer with six points on 2-of-4 shooting, all three-point attempts. But Penn did out-rebound Drexel, 23-18. The Quakers pulled down nine offensive rebounds and the Dragons grabbed four.

Also of interest: Glen Miller used 13 players in the first half. Flint used eight.

15:46 2nd, 41-29 Drexel: The rollout contest is over, and Drexel has won it, "DID BEN FRANKLIN POP HIS COLLAR TOO?"

I sure hope not. I can't really bear the thought of this country having been founded by a guy with a popped collar.

11:15 2nd, 44-34 Drexel: After Frank Elegar picks up his third foul, we get the media timeout. Bruiser comes back to the bench screaming, "We don't need no heroes!"

For the third time, we get both rollouts at the same time. Drexel: "STOP WASTING TOAST. FEED THE HOMELESS." Penn: "The NCAA Committee and a Real College / Two things that rejected you"

The Penn students chant,"You're all homeless!" and the Drexel students reply with a weak round of "Scoreboard..." and then do better with the old standard "Daddy's trust fund!"

Brendan Quinn of the Evening Bulletin, sitting next to me on press row, says Penn wins that round. "I usually go with the working-class cheers, but that was pretty good," he adds.

6:59 2nd, 47-41 Drexel: Penn uncorks one of the best rollouts I've seen that student section produce in years: "Do any of you even know what a trust fund is?"

Penn has scored on its last two possessions via backdoor passes to Brian Grandieri. Of all things. And for at least a minute or two, we have a game.

3:44 2nd, 47-41 Drexel: A reminder that it was 37-24 at the half.

1:28 2nd, 49-47 Drexel: Threes by Jack Eggleston and Aron Cohen have pulled Penn within two. Whoa.

1:08 2nd, 49-48 Drexel: Brian Grandieri drives to the basket and misses the shot, but draws Elegar's fourth foul. He makes the first free throw, but not the second. A big bullet dodged by the Dragons.

0:22 2nd, 52-49 Drexel: Freshman guard Gerald Colds hits an enormous three-pointer, pushing Drexel's lead to four. The DAC Pack explodes. At the other end, Brian Grandieri is fouled, misses the first three throw and makes the second.

End of regulation, 52-52: Good heavens. Mike Kach is fouled, makes the first free throw, misses the second, Brian Grandieri grabs the rebound and misses the putback, but Jack Eggleston grabs that rebound and ties the game.

3:40 OT, 57-53 Drexel: Frank Elegar throws down an emphatic slam and Penn misses at the other end. Penn has done a pretty good job of containing Elegar all night, but that was quite a reply.

2:09 OT, 60-57 Drexel: After two Brian Grandieri free throws tie the game, Colds hits another monster three to put Drexel back in front.

0:52 OT, 62-57 Drexel: You have to give the Penn kids some credit for actually trying to figure out what the Drexel students might come up with. Their last rollout: "This is your house? / Where do you sleep?"

Final: 67-59, Drexel: Drexel finally clamped down on defense and Penn ran out of gas. But a fun game nonetheless, one which was much closer than I expected.

And of course, Drexel beats Penn for the first time since 2003, and gets that trophy with the 33rd Street sign in in. Which is what really matters, right? Watching the Drexel fans celebrate, it sure seems that way.