EASTON, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team had trouble putting away a pesky Lafayette squad on Wednesday, but the Quakers made just enough free throws in the final minute to escape the Kirby Sports Center with a 73-68 victory.
 
The win was Penn's second in a row, the fourth in the last five games, and the seventh in the last nine. The Quakers are now 7-4 overall. Lafayette fell to 1-7 with the loss.
 
Notes
*Penn hit 10 three-pointers, the fifth time this season the Quakers have hit double digits in that category and the second-straight contest.
 
*Sophomore AJ Brodeur scored Penn's first 10 points in Wednesday night's game and finished with 15. It was his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season and the 28th of his career.
 
*Sophomore Ryan Betley ended up as Penn's leading scorer for the sixth game this season, with 16 points. It was his team-high ninth double-figure scoring game of the season, and he knocked down three treys in the game.
 
*Fresh off a 26-point game at Howard on Monday, senior Caleb Wood had 10 points for his fourth double-figure scoring game this season.
 
*Senior Sam Jones scored nine points, a season high, on three three-pointers. He also had three rebounds.
 
How It Happened
AJ Brodeur was all the offense Penn had in the game's first five minutes, as he scored the Quakers' first 10 points and hit his first five shots. Lafayette switched defenders and that was effective, but Penn got help from others. Sam Jones, in particular, came off the bench with a pair of three-pointers to punctuate a 13-3 Quakers run that turned a 14-10 deficit into a 23-17 lead. It was 33-24 by halftime.
 
Max Rothschild then opened the second-half scoring with a layup, but Lafayette responded with the game's next seven points to make the score 35-31. That was a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the half. At one point in the period, Penn had seven-straight field goals that came from beyond the arc. However, they were spread out sporadically, and so while the Quakers built up a lead as large as 13 points (54-41) the Leopards refused to be put away.
 
Lafayette's final charge came in the final three minutes. Penn's lead was 70-59, before the Leopards' Justin Jaworski hit a trey. Caleb Wood missed a three at the other end, and Alex Petrie streaked down the floor for a layup that made it 70-64 and forced a Penn timeout.
 
Brodeur missed a layup, but Lafayette missed a trey that would have made it a one-possession game. However, the Quakers turned it over with less than a minute to go and Lafayette called a timeout. E.J. Stephens missed a three out of the break, but Paulius Zalys got the offensive rebound and Penn fouled Matt Klinewski who made both foul shots with 31 seconds left.
 
Lafayette immediately fouled Darnell Foreman on the inbounds, and the senior added to Penn's nerves by missing the front end of a 1-and-1. Lafayette quickly got the ball down the floor, and Jaworski drove for a layup to make the score 70-68 with 20 seconds still to play.
 
This time the ball was inbounded to Ryan Betley, who was fouled immediately, and the sophomore calmly knocked down both shots to make it a two-possession game. Petrie missed a trey attempt at the other end, and Brodeur was fouled as he grabbed the rebound. He made one of the two free throws, and that ended up setting the final score as Lafayette missed a pair of shots in the final seconds in an attempt to get closer.
 
Up Next
Penn finishes a week that sees them playing three road games in a five-day span when the Quakers make their first trip to the famed University of Dayton (UD) Arena to face the Flyers on Saturday at 3 p.m. That game will air to a national television audience on the NBC Sports Network.