Dec. 6, 2010
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Villanova senior forward Antonio Pena (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Thomas More) is the Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Week.
Pena played a vital role in helping the Wildcats post their first City Series win of the 2010-11 campaign last week at the Pavilion against Saint Joseph's. With reserves Isaiah Armwood (back spasms) and Maurice Sutton (sprained left ankle) both in street clothes due to injury, Pena and sophomore Mouphtaou Yarou were the only two scholarship forwards available to head coach Jay Wright.
Pena stepped forward in grand fashion.
His basket gave Villanova its first points of the evening against the Hawks and he would go on to convert 7-of-9 (.778) from the field. Pena ended the night with 14 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. That latter figure was two shy of his career high of 16, set in 2009 in the finals of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tipoff against Ole Miss.
Villanova travels to the Palestra to meet another Big Five rival, Penn, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (Comcast Network).
