Chris Czerapowicz dunks early in the second half. (Bill Giduz/DavidsonNews.net)

Updated 10:03 p.m.
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Chris Czerapowicz scored a career-high 23 points and to lead Davidson to a 75-70 victory over Penn Thursday night at Belk Arena.

Nik Cochran added 17 points for the Wildcats, including 11 of 11 free throws in the second half to help lead a comeback. JP Kuhlman had 11 points, including key foul shots late in the game.

Sophomore Czerapowicz matched his career high of 16 points in the first half, when he had 3 of his 4 three-pointers. His dad and two brothers were visiting from Sweden to watch the game, Coach Bob McKillop said afterward.

Chris Czerapowicz

The Quakers led 33-30 at halftime thanks to a balanced attack of seven scorers. But the Wildcats came out of the locker room shooting, going on a 16-3 run to open up a 46-36 lead on the Quakers with 7 minutes gone.

The run included a big play 4 into the half. Tom Droney stole the ball from the Quakers’ Rob Belcore and lofted the ball over Penn’s defenders to a fast-breaking Czerapowicz, who slammed home a dunk that fired up the Belk Arena crowd.

“For us to come out and go on that (16-3) run, that was to me … one of the great signs of growth that I’ve seen with this team,” McKillop said.

Tom Droney grabbed an offensive rebound in the second half. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

He said the team has been practicing to improve its intensity the first four minutes of each second half – “from 20 minutes to 16 minutes,” he said.

McKillop said Droney was a key to the big 2nd half opening. His aggressiveness set the tone, McKillop said.

Davidson led by as many as 13 points before defensive pressure helped the Quakers crawl back. After he was fouled on an inbounds pass, Kuhlman sank two free throws to make it 73-67. Then Tyler Bernardini hit a long three pointer from the left side to bring Penn back within three points, 73-70, with three seconds left. But it was too little too late.

Cochran was fouled on the next inbounds pass, and sank both free throws to seal the victory, 75-70.

The win lifted Davidson to 8-4 on the year. The Quakers fell to 6-7.

Davidson, which is among the top schools in the country in foul shooting, hit 28 of 34 free throws overall against Penn, or 82.4 percent.

Penn Coach Jerome Allen said the Wildcats’ free throws made a difference, as did his team’s lapses just after half time. “I think we did poor shot selection and careless turnovers (and) allowed them to get out to a comfortable lead in the second half,” he said.

For the Quakers, Bernardini had 16 points, Zack Rosen had 14 and Rob Belcore and Fran Dougherty both had 10 points.

AT UNCG NEXT

Davidson is off for the New Year’s holiday, then heads to Greensboro Jan. 5 for a game against the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Game time is 7 p.m. Then the Cats are home Jan. 7 against Georgia Southern, at 3 p.m.

DOWNLOAD the Penn vs. Davidson box score (PDF)

Penn's Henry Brooks (3) and Davidson's Jake Cohen reach for the tip at the start of Thursday's game. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Chris Czerapowicz lines up a three with 4:17 left in the game against Penn's Miles Cartwright (0) and Zack Rosen (1). He made the shot and gave the Cats their biggest lead of the game (13). (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

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