PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team fell to Drexel, 60-47, on Saturday in the first game of the Big 5 Classic presented by Toyota at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
The Quakers fell to 3-6 on the season, while the Dragons improved to 6-4.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Senior Nick Spinoso was the leading scorer in Saturday's game with 21 points, a season high and two shy of his career best. He also had seven rebounds and two steals.
 
*Junior Ethan Roberts was Penn's only other double-figure scorer, with 11 points, extending his streak of double-digit scoring games to four.
 
*Freshman Michelangelo Oberti was Penn's leading rebounder on Saturday, with nine boards, and added two assists.
 
*Drexel was led by Cole Hargrove, who finished with a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) and blocked three shots. Kobe MaGee scored 12 points and Yame Butler added 10.
 
How It Happened 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, the teams changing leads nine times and no one holding a lead larger than five points. Penn was up 18-15 at the under-8 media timeout but went scoreless for more than three minutes and the Dragons took advantage with an 8-0 run. The roles were essentially reversed in the final few minutes of the half, however, as Penn used a 7-2 run to get this thing level at 30-30 as the teams went to the locker room.
 
Roberts and Spinoso scored on the Quakers' first two possessions of the second half, putting Penn in front 34-30, but the offense stagnated after that. Drexel used the Red and Blue's five-minute scoring drought to run off a 10-point streak 38-34 that ended when Spinoso scored to break the skid. The Dragons' lead was still a precarious 42-36 at the under-12 media timeout.
 
Drexel came out of the stoppage and scored four points quickly to get the first double-digit lead of the day at 46-36 with 10:01 left. That forced a Penn timeout, but the Quakers could not make up the difference the rest of the way as the offense continued to struggle.
 
Up Next
Penn is right back at it on Monday night, traveling to Richmond to face VCU at 7 p.m. This will be the first-ever matchup between the Quakers and the Rams.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.