Second-half burst helps Penn roll past Central Connecticut State

JUNIOR GUARD Caleb Wood led all scorers with 25 points and also grabbed five rebounds as Penn pulled away early and finished with an 87-65 win Tuesday night at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn.

The Quakers improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Blue Devils dropped to 1-3.

Matt Howard added 21 points, two points shy of his career high, and eight rebounds for the Quakers, who led for nearly the entire game.

CCSU hung close for much of the first half, and the teams went into intermission with Penn up by only, 35-29.

Two Wood three-pointers within the first minute of the second half helped spark a 17-7 run to start the second half. Wood hit a three with 15:04 to give the Quakers 52-36 lead that was never challenged.

Darnell Foreman later made a three and the lead mushroomed to 70-48.

The Quakers hit 14 of 31 from long range and shot 50 percent from the field. The 14 made threes were two shy of the program record.

With the score tied at 15 in the first half, Penn went on an 11-0 run, collecting threes from Jackson Donahue and Wood along the way.

Wood finished the game shooting 8-for-12, including 7-for-10 from three-point range.

Darnell Foreman was the only other Quaker in double figures, with 12 points off the bench.

Matt MacDonald was the only starter who did not score, but he led Penn with four assists. As a team, the Quakers had 18 assists on their 32 baskets and turned the ball over a season-low 10 times.

Austin Nehls led the Blue Devils with 17 points. Kahlen Cumberlander added 14 points and Tidell Pierre had nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Quakers' next game is at Navy at 2 p.m. Saturday.