Robert Morris

Each time Robert Morris inched closer, Zack Rosen was waiting for them. No matter what the Colonials tried, they couldn't shake the Penn senior guard. They switched defenders. They tried to force him to his off hands. They tried to force him inside. All came to no avail on Saturday night as Rosen led the Quakers (4-1) to a 66-60 nonconference win at the Palestra. "We tried to see where we could exploit them," said Rosen, a senior guard. "We tried to go option-to-option. If they were taking away this, we would go to that.

JEFF GORDON was sliding all over the track those final 10 laps, doing everything he could to hold off five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon held on at the end yesterday, taking the checkered flag for his third win of the year and 85th of his career. "I've been trying to step it up for 10 years," Gordon said, referring to the decade he's gone since the last of his four season championships, a period when he ceded dominance to his teammate Johnson.

By Charles Rappleye With Congress and the White House at odds over the question of debt, it may be reassuring, even instructive, to consider that our nation was embroiled in a crisis over public debt at the very dawn of its history. In fact, the delegates' primary motive in convening the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was to sort out vexing questions of debt and taxes. The debt in question was owed by the American rebels to the governments of France and Holland, two key allies that had provided funds to support Washington's army.

Robert Morris, 78, a cryptographer who helped develop the Unix computer operating system, which controls an increasing number of the world's computers, died Sunday in Lebanon, N.H. The cause was complications of dementia, his wife, Anne Farlow Morris, said. Known as an original thinker in computer science, Mr. Morris also played an important clandestine role in planning what was probably the nation's first cyberwar: the electronic attacks on Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government in the months leading up to the Persian Gulf War of 1991.

Gaining the spotlight that Neumann-Goretti enjoyed last year, when the Saints had four Division I signees, Imhotep Charter has a trio of senior boys' basketball players cementing their college destinations. Lefthanded swingman Ameen Tanksley (Niagara), guard David Appolon (Robert Morris), and 6-foot-8 forward Erik Copes (George Washington) are expected to sign binding letters of intent Wednesday, the first day of the one-week November period for winter and spring sports players to sign a national letter of intent with a Division I or II school.

Golf Association of Phila. Final score: Mid-Atlantic Golf Association 14, Golf Association of Phila. 4 Four-Ball: Stan Williams and Tim Vigotsky (MAGA) def. Mike Domenick, Phoenixville, and Robin McCool, Saucon Valley (GAP), 1 up; Keith Unikel and Daniel Hurley (MAGA) def. Tom Hyland, Little Mill, and Ryan McCarty, Little Mill (GAP), 3 and 2; Brent Martin and Jeff Lim-Sharpe (MAGA) def. Scott Klee, Bellewood, and John Brennan, Spring Ford (GAP), 2 and 1; Jeff Osberg, Llanerch, and Andy Achenbach, RiverCrest (GAP)

David Appolon entered the summer hoping to draw attention from major college basketball programs. As things stood recently, however, his pursuers included Robert Morris, Mount St. Mary's, Long Island and Austin Peay. "What it came down to," he said, "was going into the season and trying to see what else could happen or making my decision now and going with a school that I knew really wanted me. "I competed hard for my summer team, Team Philly, but things didn't go too great for us. Since I was the point guard and the ball was in my hands, [the lack of success]

Taylor King was a difference-maker for Villanova in November and December. He seemed to get every loose ball. He competed for every rebound. And he made long shots at critical moments. Through nine games, the Duke transfer was averaging 12.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. He had 20 points and a killer three in a wild win over Saint Joseph's at the Palestra. Then, starting in late January, King's game went silent. He shot just 16-for-63 over the final 11 regular-season games he played.

Cheltenham's Rob Mansell, a senior guard, has committed to play basketball at Binghamton University. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, who averaged 19.8 points for the Panthers last season, also was recruited by Long Island, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, and Rider. Mansell, a two-time, first-team all-Suburban One League American Conference selection, finished with 1,215 career points. His older brothers, Harris and Patrick, netted 1,916 and 1,867 points, respectively, at Cheltenham. (Both went on to play at Rider.