Cathedral Classic Continues with Big 5 Showdown

Day 2 of the Cathedral Classic took place Saturday afternoon. The event took place at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The 3-day round robin featured Merrimack College, Hofstra, La Salle, and the hosts Penn. Hofstra defeated Merrimack 78-58 in the 1st of the double header on Saturday. Penn overcame a 15 point deficit to take the 73-71 victory over La Salle in the game 2.

Adam Mack was at the Palestra on day 2 of the Cathedral Classic.

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Hofstra defeats Merrimack in Game 1

Hofstra took down Merrimack 78-58 to open the day. The Pride took the lead early and never looked back. Preston Edmead led the team with 22 points and 5 assists. Cruz Davis added 15 points and 8 assists for Hofstra.

The teams exchanged baskets to opening the game. Merrimack held a 8-7 lead, then it was all Hofstra. Head coach Speedy Claxton grew frustrated with their defensive performance. He even sent Edmead to the bench for 5 minutes after he failed to hustle back after his turnover. That proved to be the wake up call Hofstra needed because their defensive dominance began there.

Merrimack struggled to get any open shots throughout the game and were forced to take contested shots with the shot clock winding down. Overall Merrimack shot 30% for the game and 30% from 3 point range.

The major difference in the game was how much Hofstra won the rebound battle. Hofstra out rebounded Merrimack 43-28 with Biggie Patterson leading the way with 8 boards. The biggest difference was Hofstra’s 11 offensive rebounds in the 2nd half.

Merrimack used some runs throughout the game to bring the score within single digits on multiple occasions throughout the game. Ernest Shelton and Tye Dorset each contributed 12 points and 4 rebounds, while Dorset also added 4 assists. The Warriors had multiple scoring droughts that lasted over 4 minutes, in part that helped Hofstra grow the lead to 20.

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TJ Power's monster 2nd half leads Penn to comback victory over La Salle.

A Big 5 match-up at the Palestra is one of the best scenese in college basketball. La Salle took on Penn in game 2 of the double header. Even though it was a Big 5 match-up, this game had no implications on next weekend's Big 5 Classic.

The 1st half was a classic Big 5 matchup. Both teams played with an extra chip on their shoulder knowing this game was also for bragging rights. La Salle's early game plan was to control Penn forward Ethan Roberts. He entered the game 12th in college basketball with 22 points per game. Their strategy paid off as he was held to 6 points on 1-5 shooting, while 4-5 from the free throw line. However, by focusing on Roberts, this allowed TJ Power to get off to a hot start.

La Salle played great team basketball in the 1st half. 8 players scored in the 1st half and 7 players recorded at least 1 assist. Justin Archer led the team with 8 points in the 1st half, while Eric Acker led the team with 5 assists.

The 1st half saw 12 lead changes in the first 20 minutes with La Salle holding the slight edge with having the lead for 11 minutes.

La Salle came out in the 2nd half ready to play...the Quakers may have stayed in the locker room too long. The Explorers jumped out to a 15 point lead with a 13-0 run.

Then the TJ Power game began for Penn. He started 6-8 from the field and 5-7 from 3 to cut the deficit to 4. Penn took advantage of the new life given to them from Power and picked up their intensity. He finished the game with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

With Penn's new found intensity, Fran McCaffery switched his team's defense to zone, and La Salle struggled to get any good shot off. La Salle were led by Justin Archer with 14 points and 6 rebounds. La Salle had multiple options to take the lead in the final minute, but costly turnovers and blocked shots, helped Penn hold onto the victory.

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The Cathedral Classic will wrap up on Sunday with another double header. Merrimack will take on La Salle at noon and Penn will host Hofstra at 2:30pm. All games can be watched on ESPN+

-Adam Mack