DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team defeated Dayton, 78-70, on Saturday afternoon at the UD Arena. The win was the Quakers third in a row and pushed them to 8-4 after a 0-2 start to the season. The Flyers are now 4-5.
 
Notes
*Penn had a 3-0 week, with all of the wins on the road. The last time the Quakers won three-straight non-conference road games? Try the 2005-06 season, when they rang in the new year with wins at Hawaii (58-55), BYU-Hawaii (72-62), and The Citadel (84-49).

*Penn was a scintillating 59.1 percent on three-point shots, knocking down 13 of 22 attempts. The percentage is a high in the Donahue coaching era, and the 13 treys are tied for second-most this season. The last time the Quakers shot such a high percentage beyond the arc was a 58-51 win over Dartmouth on January 30, 2015 when they went 6-of-10 (.600).

*That said, the last time Penn hit at least 10 treys and shot a better percentage than Saturday was a 78-47 win over the Big Green on February 4, 2011, when the Quakers went 10-of-16 (.625 percentage).
 
*Overall, Penn shot 55.3 percent from the field (26-47), which was the Quakers' second-best performance this season behind only a 56.5-percent game in the win over Northern Illinois.
 
*A huge factor was Penn's performance at the foul line. The Quakers entered Saturday's game shooting 61.3 percent from the stripe for the season, but shot 72.2 percent (13-18) in the game. That was the Red and Blue's second-best performance from the spot this season.
 
*Penn had 20 assists on its 26 baskets, a 76.9 ratio. The Quakers' best ratio came against PSU-Brandywine, when they had 27 assists on 34 bucket (79.4 ratio).
 
*Penn remains unbeaten this season when leading or tied at the half; by contrast, the Quakers are 0-4 when trailing at the break.
 
*Penn was led by junior Antonio Woods. On a return to his home state—he hails from Cincinnati—Woods scored 17 points (on 6-of-9 shooting) and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds. He also had five assists, a season best.
 
*A huge x-factor in the game was senior Sam Jones, who came off the bench and went 5-of-6 on three-point shots to score a season-high 15 points in just 13 minutes. His fourth and fifth treys came on consecutive possession in the final four minutes and pushed a 62-61 Penn lead to 68-63.
 
*After hitting just three three-pointers in Penn's first 10 games this season, Jones has now hit eight treys in the last two games for the Quakers.
 
*Sophomore Ryan Betley scored 14 points and knocked down a trio of treys. It was his seventh-straight game scoring in double figures, and his 10th this season.
 
*Senior Darnell Foreman scored 12 points, his seventh game this season in double digits and first in the last three outings. He also had four assists and three boards.
 
*Sophomore AJ Brodeur dished out seven assists, a career high, to go with six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
*Junior Max Rothschild had nine points, his best output in four games.
 
How It Happened
Penn opened Saturday's game with three-pointers from Foreman and Woods to start the game, and then Betley knocked down a pair of treys as part of a 10-0 Quakers run that pushed them ahead 16-5. The lead extended to 21-7, but then Dayton roared all the way back and then some with 16 consecutive points as Penn went scoreless for a span of 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Betley ended the skid with a reverse layup off a Max Rothschild feed, and then Sam Jones (3) and Jackson Donahue (1) ended the half with four treys as the teams went to the locker rooms tied, 35-35.
 
Josh Cunningham (21 points) scored the first point of the second half on a foul shot, but Rothschild hit a layup on the ensuing possession and the Quakers never trailed in the game again. Dayton tied the score at 47-47, but Foreman and then Betley drained shots from beyond the arc to push Penn back out by six. It was 62-55 when Dayton made a six-point push as John Crosby sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Matej Svoboda field goal. That made the score 62-61 as the clock went under four minutes.
 
At that point Jones took control, knocking down a pair of treys—the second one, in front of the Penn bench with a Dayton hand in his face—and that pushed the Quakers back out in front by five, 68-63. Cunningham got it back to 68-65, but Foreman answered in the paint with less than two minutes to play.
 
The Flyers' next possession came up empty, as Betley stole a pass up top. He was fouled driving to the hole, and out of a media timeout (and with 1:22 left) he calmly knocked down both foul shots. That started a trend, as the Quakers were sent to the lines four more times after that and converted six of the eight free throws. Dayton, meanwhile, could only muster a three and a two from John Crosby (15 points).
 
Up Next
Penn is off until December 27, when the Quakers host Delaware State at The Palestra at 7 p.m. It will be the Quakers first home game since November 18. Two days later, the Red and Blue will host Toledo at 4 p.m.