PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team closed out Cathedral Classic Invitational presented by Toyota play on Sunday afternoon at The Palestra, dropping a 68-53 decision to Elon in the final game of the four-team event.
 
Penn fell to 3-5 overall and went 1-2 on the weekend, while Elon improved to 5-3 overall after a 2-1 weekend.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn lost despite committing just six turnovers on the day, a season low.
 
*For the third time in three games, junior Ethan Roberts was Penn's leading scorer as he finished with 20 points to give him 76 for the weekend. He also grabbed six rebounds.
 
*Roberts was named to the all-tournament team along with Maine's Kellen Tynes and Quion Burns, Elon's TK Simpkins, and Navy's Austin Benigni.
 
*Senior Nick Spinoso scored eight points and led the Quakers in rebounds (7) and assists (5).
 
*Junior Dylan Williams also had eight points on Sunday.
 
*Elon had four players score in double figures, led by 7-foot-4 center Matthew Van Komen who ended the game with 10 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Sam Sherry led the scoring parade with 16 points, followed by Nick Dorn (15) and TK Simpkins (12) who also led the Phoenix with five assists.

How It Happened
Elon threw an immediate first punch in Sunday's second game, scoring eight points on its first three possessions to go up 8-0. That forced a quick Penn timeout Things settled down after that, and the Quakers clawed back into it and got within one, at 12-11, when AJ Levine grabbed a steal at one end and finished a contested layup at the other.
 
The score was tied at 18-18 after a Williams coast-to-coast play, and it was still 22-21 when Elon knocked down seven points in a row. A killer came near the end of the half, as Penn got within 31-26 but Dorn hit back-to-back treys to end the period and set the score at 37-26.
 
Spinoso got Penn within 43-37 with a pair of baskets, and then a Niklas Polonowski three-pointer made it a four-point game (47-43) with 12:32 to play.
 
Unfortunately, the Quakers went more than seven minutes without a field goal after that Polonowski trey, and Elon took advantage. Ultimately, it was an 11-1 Phoenix run that had the score at 58-44 before Michelangelo Oberti ended the field goal drought with a throwdown off a nice feed from Spinoso.
 
The damage was done, however, as Penn would never get within single digits the rest of the way.
 
Up Next
Penn is off until next Saturday, when the Quakers play in the Big 5 Classic at the Wells Fargo Center. Penn will face 33rd Street neighbor Drexel in the opener that day, scheduled for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.