PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team took a nice step forward on Monday night, getting a double-digit lead early in the second half against a Howard University team that is the defending MEAC champion and preseason favorite to repeat. The Quakers never let the Bison get back into it the rest of the way, finishing with a 78-68 win at The Palestra.
 
The game marked a homecoming for Penn alum Jelani Williams, in his second season as a grad transfer at Howard. Williams finished the night with 10 points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists in 35 minutes as he was warmly received by the Palestra faithful. In a special moment, following the handshake line Williams joined his former teammates at center court for "The Red and The Blue."
 
Penn improved to 7-5 with tonight's win in the last game ahead of fall-term exams. Howard fell to 3-6.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn knocked down 12 three-pointers on Monday night, the third time the Quakers have done that against a D1 opponent this season.
 
*Penn outrebounded the Bison, 37-27, and committed just 10 turnovers on the night.
 
*Senior Clark Slajchert led all scorers with 20 points, his fifth 20-point effort already this season; he added four rebounds and three assists and had Penn's only two steals on the night.
 
*Slajchert was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc on Monday night; the six treys marked a season/career high for the senior.
 
*Freshman Sam Brown had 15 points, knocking down three treys, and led the Quakers with four assists to go with four rebounds.
 
*Freshman Tyler Perkins had another double-figure scoring game, with 13 points, and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to finish one board shy of a double-double.
 
*Junior Nick Spinoso had 12 points—he was 8-of-10 from the foul line—and added five rebounds and three assists.
 
*Junior Reese McMullen had seven points, one shy of his season/career high and a high against a Division 1 opponent; he also had two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.
 
*Howard put four players in double figures on Monday—in addition to Williams, former Harvard standout Seth Towns had a team-high 16 while Marcus Dockery had 15 (on five treys) and Bryce Harris added 10. Towns and Harris had six rebounds each.

How It Happened
Howard got out to a quick start, needing three possessions to go up 7-0. Penn settled in, however, and scored nine in a row to go up 12-10, The Quakers' lead was 17-16 when Howard again caught fire, the Bison scoring 12 points in a row in less than three minutes to go up by a double-digit margin (28-17). Perkins ended Penn's 3:34 scoring drought with a pullup in the lane and that was the start of a 6-0 run that got the Quakers within five. Dom Campbell ended the run with a layup, but a Brown trey and a Spinoso free throw brought the Red and Blue within three, at 30-27.
 
Slajchert took over from there, scoring Penn's next 10 points with a trio of treys that (he was fouled hitting the second one and made the foul shot). That put the Quakers up, 37-32, and they took a 39-36 lead into the locker room.
 
Penn's lead was 47-42 early in the second half when Perkins hit a three, Nick converted one of two free throws, then senior Andrew Laczkowski finished a layup. That got Penn's lead to double digits (53-42).with a little less than 15 minutes to play. Howard got within seven on two occasions after that, at 61-54 and then again at 63-56 with a little more than nine minutes to play. However, Brown knocked down a three-pointer to get the lead back to a double-digit margin and Penn kept the Bison at bay the rest of the way in getting the win.
 
Up Next
Penn is off for fall-term exams and will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 23 at Rider. The Quakers and Broncs are scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.