Penn uses balanced attack to beat Campbell

ORLANDO, Fla. - Playing a second straight game against a dominant scorer, the Penn basketball team countered the only way it could: with balance.

That turned out to be a winning formula today. No Penn player had more than 16 points, but five finished in double figures in a 78-67 win over Campbell in the consolation game of the UCF Holiday Classic.

It helped that the Fighting Camels' star, Jonathan Rodriguez, managed only 18 points. He was among the NCAA's top 25 scorers as a sophomore last season, and one of only six players to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Penn (2-7) survived by covering him tightly and keeping the ball out of his hands whenever possible.

"The nights he struggles is when people keep a body on him," said Campbell coach Robbie Laing, whose team has no seniors and just one win over Division I opposition.

The Quakers "really doubled down on him a few times, and that affected it."

The other Camels went 6 for 24 from the floor, but Campbell (3-8) hung within striking distance at halftime, down by 36-29. Rodriguez did a lot of the work in the first half, going 6 of 8 for 13 points.

"A couple of times in the first half, we defended him, he gave up the ball, then we kind of relaxed," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "We talked about that at halftime, and I think we did a better job after."

Jack Eggleston led Penn with 16 points. Tyler Bernardini added 13 on 6-of-11 shooting, and Brennan Votel scored 11 in 22 minutes. Zack Rosen contributed 10 points.

"I told our guys [Monday] night: We don't have any superstars on this team," Miller said. "We don't have any one or two guys that can just step up and take over the game. We still have players that can get the job done, but we have to rely on each other and be a well-balanced team."

The Quakers' Rob Belcore celebrated his second career start with seven assists and no turnovers. Cameron Lewis, who has endured long stints without playing time, came out of nowhere to post season highs in points (14), rebounds (seven) and blocks (five).

"You look at their stats, they've got pretty even [scoring] distribution," Laing said. "I wasn't expecting - gosh, can't even remember the kid's name - Lewis to come down with 14 and seven."

Laing sent Rodriguez to the bench once things slipped out of hand, and the Penn lead ballooned into the 20s after that.

The game at Central Florida's gym was played before what Belcore called an AAU-level crowd of about 100 people, and the opponent was one of the weakest Penn will face all year. However, Miller hopes his team can gain momentum from its second win.

"You're relieved a little bit," he said. "You play the game to win, and we haven't won too much this season."