Big 5 Roundup: Khaafiq Myers Bursts Onto the Scene in Win Over Penn

Saint Joseph’s Men’s Basketball won the first Big 5 game for Pod 1 this season 83-77 over Penn, scoring 46 points in a second half comeback.

Junior guard Khaafiq Myers, a Neumann-Goretti graduate and Philadelphia native, enjoyed a sort of coming out party, racking up 30 points and seven assists as he powered the Hawks’ offense. The Quakers, meanwhile, dealt with injuries to Sir Mohammed, AJ Levine and Dorian Glogovac. While head coach Fran McCaffery went to his bench extensively, deploying a total of ten players over the course of the game, that lack of depth undoubtedly wore on Penn as the game continued.

Quakers guard Michael Zanoni led the field with 32 points, 23 of them scored in the first half as Penn pulled ahead. BJ Ranson sank consecutive threes for the Hawks midway through the second half, putting them ahead 58-55; Zanoni tied the game with his own triple, but an 8-2 run capped with another Ranson three gave the Hawks breathing room.

Penn star forward TJ Power cut the deficit to two with a late layup, queuing an answer from Myers that sealed the win. The Hawks can claim a spot in the Big 5 Classic title game with a win over Drexel on Nov. 20; if Penn loses to Drexel on Nov. 24, they’d fall to the fifth-place game.

Pod 2 play will continue at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15 when La Salle hosts Temple. The Explorers lost to Villanova earlier this week, so a loss to the Owls would relegate them to the fifth-place game; the Wildcats will travel to face Temple on Dec. 1 to conclude pod play.