Jordan Dingle scores 23 points to power Penn past Columbia, 81-66
Jordan Dingle's hot streak continued as the Quakers avenged their loss to Columbia in early January.
NEW YORK — Jordan Dingle couldn’t be stopped.
Penn’s 6-foot-3 sophomore guard scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Quakers over Columbia, 81-66, in an Ivy League contest at Levien Gym on Friday.
Penn (9-12, 6-2 Ivy) relied on scoring runs at the beginning of each half and productive bench play to avenge its loss to Columbia (4-15, 1-6) at the Palestra in early January.
“I thought early on in particular, [Dingle] was really impressive,” said Penn head coach Steve Donahue. “He has been this way over the last month, but there is just another level of engagement, for us tonight we really needed that.”
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led Columbia with 21 points.
On fire early
It’s safe to say that Penn remembered Columbia’s hot start in their last matchup. On Friday, it was the Quakers who took an early lead, 16-4.
“I thought the first-half run was really predicated off of defense,” said Donahue. “I just think that we are really inexperienced and we have our moments that we scratch our heads, but there is never a lack of effort, poise, or toughness which I think is a sign of a good team.”
Dingle, fresh off of a 31-point performance in last Friday’s win against Harvard, matched his nine-point outing against Columbia in their first matchup with nine points in the game’s first three minutes.
Penn let the offense come to them, not forcing shots and swinging the ball around the key during the stretch. Defensively, the Quakers benefited from an abysmal early shooting effort by the Lions, who started the game shooting 15% from the field.
Columbia chipped away at Penn’s 12-point lead thanks to the Quakers’ turnovers and missed shots as the first half progressed. With two minutes left in the half, Penn led by only one.
By halftime, the Quakers led 35-27 as Dingle scored 16 first-half points.
Inside advantage
In the January loss to Columbia, Penn was outrebounded, 48-31. The inside dominance by Columbia’s Patrick Harding and Ike Nweke was a big reason Penn lost that contest.
Friday night was a different story. The Quakers outrebounded the Lions, 47-42, and did an effective job of boxing out Harding and Nweke. Harding grabbed 11 rebounds, but Nweke was held to only two.
“[Our team] talked about it all week how it is not going to happen like that to us again,” said Donahue. “[Rebounds] were at the forefront of our minds to compete on the glass and we weren’t going to lose because of [rebounds].”
Bench contributions
Two Penn bench players, Clark Slajchert and Andrew Laczkowski, had impressive outings.
Slajchert, who finished with nine points, must have received some floater tips from Dingle. His two field goals in the first half were floaters. One of those shots for Slajchert, listed at a generous 6-foot-1, followed an offensive rebound over two Columbia big men.
Laczkowski’s contribution could be labeled as the “run-stopper.” The 6-6 sophomore had a monster dunk off of a Penn inbound play as Columbia was inching closer. And with time nearly expiring in the first half, Laczkowski nailed a corner three, pushing the Penn lead to eight.
In the second half, Laczkowski scored back-to-back shots fresh off of the bench. Although he scored only five points this season heading into Friday night, Laczkowski more than doubled that total with 12 points.
The momentum at the end of the first half carried into the second. Penn opened on a 17-8 run to seal the game. Donahue was able to rest his starters over the final three minutes.
Penn continues their road trip at Cornell tomorrow for a 6 p.m. tip off.