PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team eked out a 74-72 win over Lafayette to open play at the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic on Friday afternoon at The Palestra.
Penn trailed in the game's final minute, 69-68, but junior
George Smith took a pass from senior
Clark Slajchert against a scrambled Leopards defense and calmly knocked down a three-pointer to give the Quakers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Sophomore
Cam Thrower and freshman
Sam Brown then knocked down three of four free throws in the final seconds, and Lafayette only had time for a desperation heave that missed everything at the buzzer.
Penn improved to 4-2 with the win while the Leopards fell to 1-4.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn outrebounded Lafayette, 35-30; the Quakers have outboarded all six opponents this season and have a +69 rebound margin through six games.
*Penn knocked down 10 three-pointers, most against a Division 1 opponent this season; the Quakers had 12 against D3 John Jay in the season opener.
*Penn shot a season-best 85.7 percent from the foul line (18-21).
*Slajchert led the Quakers with 18 points, extending his double-figure scoring streak to seven games dating back to last season.
*Slajchert also matched his career high with five assists, originally set last season against, you guessed it, Lafayette.
*Freshman
Tyler Perkins had 14 points, 11 of them in the first half, and added two assists and two steals. He was 3-of-5 beyond the arc.
*Brown was the third Penn player in double digits, with 12 points off the bench (also going 3-5 from distance). After missing the first four games due to injury, he has 29 points in his first two collegiate appearances.
*Junior
Nick Spinoso nearly had his second double-double in as many games, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds. He also had three assists and three blocked shots.
*Lafayette's Justin Vander Baan led all scorers on Friday night with 28 points and had a team-high seven rebounds. Kyle Jenkins was the only other Leopards player to score in double figures, with 10 points. Mark Butler dished out a game-high seven assists.
How It Happened
The early part of Friday's second game at The Palestra was a bit sloppy, Penn taking an early 14-9 lead when
Andrew Laczkowski pulled up for a three-pointer up top. The lead expanded to eight on a Brown trey, 20-12, and was still seven points when Perkins drained a triple with 7:36 left in the half. However, Lafayette scored the next eight points, six of them coming from Vander Baan who just took over for a period.
A Vander Baan jumper put the Pards in front, 27-26, but Slajchert sandwiched a pair of buckets around a Smith trey to put Penn back up by six, 33-27. The lead was 35-32 at the break.
Eric Sondberg opened the second-half scoring with a three-pointer, the start of a 9-2 Lafayette run that opened the period and put the Pards up, 41-37. That lead held for most of the second half, the visitors eventually expanding their advantage to nine points when a Jenkins layup made the score 63-54 with 5:50 to play.
Penn didn't panic. Spinoso scored on a hook in the lane, and after three Slajchert free throws were matched by a Luke Rasmussen trey, Brown dialed long distance to make the score 66-64 at the final media timeout. Points were hard to come by after that for both teams, Jenkins putting down a dunk to make it 68-64 but Spinoso making the most of a second chance and then Slajchert nailing a jumper to tie things at 68-68 with 2:14 left.
Both teams had chances to go in front but missed good looks, and then Spinoso blocked a Devin Hines drive out of bounds with one minute to play. After a timeout, Lafayette worked the ball to Rasmussen who was fouled on a drive. He missed his first free throw but made the second to put the Leopards in front, 69-68.
Penn took a timeout and, off the inbounds, Slajchert nearly was picked but got control of the ball in the backcourt. A Lafayette player who dove for the ball that Slajchert picked up was out of position, leaving the Pards shorthanded on defense, and as Slajchert crossed the time line he kicked the ball to Smith on the right wing. The junior was true with his trey, and Penn led 71-69.
Lafayette had two chances to tie, the first shot missing and the second attempt getting blocked by Spinoso.
After a timeout, Penn got the ball to Thrower who was fouled. He made both shots to make the score 73-69, but Vander Baan drained a trey to make it a one-point game. The Quakers inbounded to Brown who was fouled. He made the first but missed the second; however, Vander Baan got the rebound and was forced to throw the ball nearly the length of the court before the buzzer and was well short.
Up Next
Penn will play Belmont tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. in Day 2 of the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic. The Bruins opened tournament play with a 93-84 loss to Monmouth in Friday's opening game.
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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