PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team led wire-to-wire in an 85-57 victory against visiting Lafayette on Tuesday evening at The Palestra.
The Quakers (2-2) won their third straight home opener and it was also the third win in a row for the Red and Blue at home versus the Leopards (0-3).
Quaker Notemeal
*All 17 players who dressed on Tuesday night played, with 11 of them scoring.
*For the third time this season, Penn reached double digits in three-point baskets with 11; the Quakers have shot 46.7 percent from beyond the arc the last two games (21 of 45).
*After committing 41 turnovers in the first two games, Penn has committed just 19 over its last two.
*After being outrebounded in each of its first three games this season, Penn outboarded Lafayette 45-27.
*Junior
Jonah Charles led Penn in scoring on Tuesday with 18 points, 13 of them coming in the first half.
*Among his 18 points were Charles' first three two-point baskets of the season; he entered the night with 33 points this season from 10 treys and three foul shots.
*Freshman
Nick Spinoso had a perfect night from the field, going 5-of-5 including a pair of three-pointers en route to 12 points, a season/career best.
*Sophomore
Clark Slajchert hit double figures in the scoring column for the third time in four games on Tuesday, dropping 11.
*Slajchert also led Penn with four assists.
*After starting the season with a trio of 20-point games, sophomore
Jordan Dingle scored just nine on Tuesday; he also had three rebounds and three assists.
*Junior
Max Lorca-Lloyd matched his career high with six points and also had six rebounds.
*Sophomore
Max Martz saw his first game action of 2021-22 after missing the first three due to injury; he had five points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 12 minutes of action.
How It Happened
Penn started fast, opening the game on a 9-0 run that lasted the first five minutes of action. During the spurt, the Quakers held the Leopards to 0-of-7 shooting from the field and four different Penn players scored.
The Red and Blue stretched their lead to 15 at 26-11 with under eight minutes to go in the opening half courtesy of five straight points from Charles. The junior knocked down a deep three, and after a
Michael Moshkovitz steal he scored again in transition which forced Lafayette to call a timeout.
The Leopards cut the Penn lead to eight with under five minutes remaining following a 7-0 surge, but the Quakers answered on the ensuing possession courtesy of an uncontested three-pointer from Spinoso from the top of the key.
Penn led by double digits for the remainder of the opening half as a putback from Spinoso late gave the Quakers a 40-26 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Quakers scored the first five points of the second half thanks to a jumper from
Lucas Monroe and a trey from
Jelani Williams.
Six minutes into the second, the Quakers answered a 5-0 Lafayette run with an 10-0 spurt of their own capped by a bucket from Slajchert which gave the Red and Blue a 59-35 lead with less than 13 minutes left.
Penn had another run midway through the final stanza, scoring seven unanswered points to stretch the lead to 31. In the swell, Monroe had a highlight reel three-point play with a nice spin move.
Penn emptied the bench down the stretch en route to their largest margin of victory over a Division 1 opponent since a 28-point win over Delaware State on November 27, 2018.
Up Next
Penn heads to an exempt event for the fourth straight year, traveling to Conway, South Carolina for the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Quakers open the four-day, three-game event on Thursday with a nationally televised tilt against Utah State that will air on ESPNU. Opening tip between the Red and Blue and the Aggies is slated for approximately 2:30 p.m.
#Whãnau
#FightOnPenn
