PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team was led by its senior captains on Wednesday night as the Quakers took down Big 5 rival La Salle, 75-59, on Macquarie Court at The Palestra. Devon Goodman, AJ Brodeur and Ryan Betley were the top three scorers in the game with 21, 20 and 18 points, respectively, as the Red and Blue improved to 2-1 on the young season.
 
Notes
*Penn has now won six Philadelphia Big 5 games in a row, the program's longest streak in the city series since they won six in a row across the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
 
*Penn has now won two in a row and four of the last five meetings with La Salle.
 
*Penn is now 3-2 in home openers in the Steve Donahue era and 39-21 at The Palestra overall under Donahue.
 
*Penn outrebounded La Salle, 47-30, and had 16 offensive boards; the Quakers had 16 second-chance points, the Explorers four.
 
*Penn had 15 turnovers, just one less than La Salle, but the Quakers scored 25 points off turnovers while the Explorers had just 12.
 
*Penn had two players score 20 or more points in the same game for the first time this season (Goodman 21, Brodeur 20).
 
*Goodman's 21-point night marked his first double-figure scoring game this season and was the sixth 20-point game of his Penn career.
 
*Brodeur essentially hit his pre-game average (19.5 ppg) tonight and also grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds. He is now averaging a double-double (19.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg).
 
*Brodeur also led Penn with four assists and two blocked shots; he leads the team overall in both of those categories with 10 assists and seven blocks.
 
*Betley scored 18 points, a season high and most since he dropped 30 at Brown on March 3, 2018; the senior missed all of last season due to a torn patellar tendon suffered early in the season opener.
 
*Betley knocked down four three-pointers, high for a Penn player this season, and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
*Freshman Jordan Dingle was held to just five points after scoring 44 in Penn's first two games, but he played 37 minutes and also contributed four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
 
*Junior Eddie Scott had six late points, one on an old-fashioned three-point play and the other on a long-distance trey. He also had four rebounds and two assists.
 
How It Happened
La Salle (1-1) scored the first points of Wednesday night's game and also held a 4-2 lead early. Penn tied it on a Brodeur field goal in the paint, and then Betley drained his first three-pointer of the night to make it 7-4. The Quakers never trailed again.
 
A brief, 5-0 run late in the first half gave Penn a 27-18 lead, its biggest of the period, but La Salle's Isiah Deas (17 points) scored on back-to-back possessions and the Quakers lead was five at the half. Saul Phiri then started the second half with a three-pointer for the Explorers, and Penn's lead was down to a single possession.
 
That's when Penn's seniors took over. After the teams traded baskets, Brodeur scored in the lane and then Goodman and Betley hit treys on consecutive possessions. Suddenly Penn was up 10 and La Salle was calling timeout. No matter; another triple by Betley, Brodeur in the paint, then Goodman for four in a row. In all, a 17-0 run—all the points coming from the captains—and a 46-27 lead.
 
La Salle continued to fight. The Explorers got within 10, at 50-40, thanks to a pair of Christian Ray field goals, before Dingle started Penn off on a 10-4 run with a hoop and harm. Penn again let up on the gas, and again the Explorers took advantage with a 10-2 run that made the score 62-54 with 4:21 to play.
 
Penn made a final push. Brodeur was fouled and canned both free throws, and then after a defensive stop Scott drained a trey to make the score 67-54. Deas hit a triple to make it a 10-point game one final time, but the Quakers scored the next four to make it 71-57 with two minutes left. La Salle never got closer than 12 after that.