PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team could not shake Cornell throughout Friday night's game at The Palestra. The Quakers never trailed in the contest, but it took late free throws for the Red and Blue to gain a 69-61 win.
 
Penn improved to 11-5 overall and is 2-0 in Ivy League play for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Friday was the Ivy League opener for Cornell, which is now 6-8 overall.
 
Notes
*The win was Penn's tenth in a row over Cornell, and the 12th win in the last 13 meetings.
 
*Penn remained undefeated this year in the white uniforms (6-0) and improved to 10-1 when leading at halftime.
 
*Penn had just nine turnovers, the fourth-straight game the Quakers were in single digits in that category.
 
*At the other end, Penn had 11 steals which tied a season high (originally set November 13 vs. La Salle).
 
*Also on the defensive end, Penn held Cornell's Matt Morgan to 13 points (eight of them in the game's final 2:34). He entered the contest averaging 24.9 points per contest.
 
*Sophomore AJ Brodeur nearly had a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The 18 points were a high since he hit for 25 against Northern Illinois on November 20, and the nine boards were a high since he had 10 at Howard on December 4.
 
*Brodeur also had six assists, one shy of his season/career high set at Dayton on December 9.
 
*Sophomore Ryan Betley had 10 points by halftime and finished with 13. He has scored in double figures in three-straight games, 10 of the last 11, and 13 overall this season.
 
*Betley has 34 points in two Ivy games, with 29 of them coming before halftime.

*Betley also had four steals, a season high and one shy of his career high (which came the last time the Quakers played Cornell, last February 24 in Ithaca).
 
*Senior Darnell Foreman—who played his 100th game at Penn—had 12 points, his third-straight game in double figures and tenth this season.
 
*For the third time this season, junior Max Rothschild had five assists which is a season/career high.
 
How It Happened
The first half was defined by runs on both sides, as Penn opened up a 13-4 lead to start things, Cornell drove all the way back to tie it at 13-13, before the Quakers scored 11 in a row to start a 16-1 run that pushed them out to a 29-14 advantage. Cornell got back within eight, before Ryan Betley ended a 10-point half with a backdoor layup off an inbounds pass at the buzzer to put Penn up at the break, 34-24.
 
Penn then opened the second-half scoring on an AJ Brodeur layup, but Cornell's Stone Gettings (20 points, 17 rebounds) scored the game's next 10 points and single-handedly got the Big Red back within two points, at 36-34. However, Antonio Woods and Jackson Donahue hit treys on consecutive possessions, the start of an 8-0 run that put Penn back up by double digits, at 44-34.
 
Cornell again refused to wilt, scoring eight of the next 10 points to get within four, at 46-42. It was still 50-46 after a Gettings layup with 9:07 to play, but as it turned out that would the Big Red's last field goal for nearly seven minutes. Penn took advantage, scoring ten straight points to go up 60-46 with less than five minutes to play.
 
Once again, Cornell responded. Down by 11 with less than 90 seconds left, the Big Red began fouling on defense. Penn reinforced the strategy, going just 2-of-6 from the stripe over an 18-second span. Meanwhile, Cornell was scoring quickly on offense, and was within four at 65-61. Betley hit one of two freebies to get it back to five, and then a massive play occurred when Darnell Foreman drew a charge in the lane on Matt Morgan. That steadied the ship, as the Quakers hit three of their final four foul shots while Cornell was unable to score again.
 
Up Next
Penn is back in action tomorrow night, continuing its nine-game homestand and Ivy slate with Columbia. The Quakers and Lions are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., following the Penn-Columbia women's game which will start at 4:30 p.m.