PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team clinched the outright Philadelphia Big 5 title on Saturday night by defeating Saint Joseph's, 78-70, on Macquarie Court at The Palestra.
 
The win was the second in a row for the Quakers, who closed out its most successful non-conference season (12-4) since 2001-02 with the victory. Penn is 12-6 overall and ends the city series 4-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 season and just the second time since the 1973-74 campaign. (Prior to 2001-02, the last time the Quakers even won a Big 5 title in the four-game round-robin format was 1980-81.) Overall, the Red and Blue have won 13 Big 5 titles.
 
Saint Joseph's fell to 9-11 overall and is 0-3 in Big 5 play this season.
 
Notes
*The win was Penn's second in a row over Saint Joseph's and the Quakers' fourth win in the last seven meetings between these two programs.
 
*Penn had 19 assists on 27 baskets, giving them 40 assists on 55 baskets over the last two games (72.7 percentage).
 
*Penn's 2.71 assist/turnover ratio (19 assists/7 turnovers) is a season best, and the Quakers have a 2.22 ratio over the last two games (40 assists/18 turnovers).
 
*Penn hit 14 three-point shots, the second straight game and eighth time this season the Quakers have reached double figures in that category.
 
*For the second straight game and fourth time this season, Penn took more three-point shots (38) than two-point shots (25); the 38 trey attempts were one shy of a program single-game record.
 
*Penn improved to 10-1 this season when leading at halftime and 12-2 when shooting a better field-goal percentage than its opponent (Penn 42.9, Temple 40.3).
 
*Freshman Bryce Washington set season/career highs in points (23), rebounds (10), assists (4) and three-point baskets (6) and had his first collegiate double-double.
 
*Washington's 23 points led Penn in scoring, snapping a six-game streak in which AJ Brodeur was the Quakers' leading scorer.
 
*Brodeur scored 20 points, giving him 201 over his 12-game streak of double-digit scoring games and 180 over the last 10 contests (18.0 ppg).
 
*Senior Jake Silpe had 13 points, his third double-digit scoring performance this season (also Rice and Villanova); he has hit six three-pointers in the last two games.
 
*Silpe had 33 points in Penn's final three Big 5 games this season (11 vs. Villanova, 9 at Temple, 13 vs. SJU).
 
*Freshman Michael Wang scored 12 points, his eighth double-figure scoring game this season but his first since he had 19 at New Mexico on December 22.
 
*Junior Devon Goodman had six assists, a season high and one shy of a career best.
 
*Senior Antonio Woods had four assists without a turnover, one shy of his season high.
 
How It Happened
In front of a full house at The Palestra, Michael Wang drilled a three-pointer on Penn's first possession to put the Quakers up 3-2. Both teams proceeded to trade the lead four times over the next six minutes with both Jake Silpe and Devon Goodman hitting long balls.
 
Saint Joseph's eventually crept out to a five-point lead at 16-11 with 12:35 to play in the half, but AJ Brodeur halted the 6-0 Hawk spurt with consecutive right-handed lay-ins to pull Penn back within a point. Terrific ball movement, and an extra pass from Antonio Woods, led to a long ball from Bryce Washington in the corner to level the game at 18-18. After a transition bucket from Wang, Brodeur backed his way into the lane and converted the layup to give Penn its first lead in over four minutes, at 22-20 with 8:38 to play.
 
The Hawks tied the game at 22 before Brodeur promptly drilled a three and then, after SJU's Charlie Brown converted a three-point play to tie the game yet again, Washington knocked down threes on back-to-back possessions to give the Quakers their largest lead of the game to that point, 31-25 with 6:42 remaining. The advantage grew to eight, at 35-27, after a pair of Goodman free throws sandwiched a fast-break layup by the junior. At the half, Penn held a 35-31 lead.
 
The second half began just like the first, a Wang triple following a bucket from Saint Joseph's. The Hawks closed within three to open the period, but another Washington corner three extended the lead to six. Brodeur converted Penn's next bucket, turning to his left and banking home a layup to raise the advantage to six yet again, 45-39 at the 15-minute mark.
 
Washington dropped a strong floater and then, on the next possession, Goodman whipped a pass to a trailing Kuba Mijakowski—who drilled four first-half threes in Penn's last game, at Temple—for a trey to make it 50-41 with 13:33 left. The Quakers' lead ballooned to double digits and then to 13 when Silpe knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing and Washington added three more the old-fashioned way.
 
The Hawks dug in and cut the deficit to just four with under eight minutes left, but another three from Washington brought the SJU spurt to a halt and grew the lead back to seven. Brown scored for Saint Joseph's, before Brodeur muscled his way to two more points with 5:09 left, giving Penn a 63-56 lead before Brown answered for two at the line.
 
The Hawks clawed to within three on the back of Brown's game-high 27 points, but Silpe, much like he did at Temple, holed a massive three to create some separation, making it a six-point Penn lead with 1:40 to play.
 
Down the stretch, Silpe and Wang both knocked down a set of free throws and Brodeur, who poured in 20, added one more to clinch the undefeated Big 5 run.
 
Up Next
Penn will finish the season with 12 Ivy League games, with the next four on the road. The Quakers are at Cornell and Columbia next weekend, facing the Big Red on Friday at 5 p.m.—a game that will air nationally on ESPNU—and the Lions on Saturday at 8 p.m.