DUBROVNIK, Croatia – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team opened a three-game tour of Croatia with a 72-61 win over KK Dubrovnik's senior team on Saturday night.
 
The Quakers were down 19-14 after one quarter of play and were still down by five late in the first half before a 9-0 run gave them a 35-31 lead into the break. The lead was extended to 10 in the third quarter, which ended with Penn in front 54-44, and the Red and Blue kept Dubrovnik at bay in the final 10-minute period.
 
Cam Thrower was Penn's leading scorer in Saturday's game, with 19 points including a trio of three-point baskets. Nick Spinoso finished just shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Augustus Gerhart had 11 points and Ed Holland finished with 10 points—nine of them coming in the second quarter—and six rebounds. George Smith went scoreless but dished out a team-high five assists and had three rebounds.
 
KK Dubrovnik plays in the 12-team Croatian Premijer Liga and finished seventh this season with a 15-18 record. Their season recently ended when they were swept by Split in a best-of-three quarterfinal series for the Croatian Basketball Championship.
 
This is the first of three games the Quakers will play in Croatia, on a trip that began with an overnight flight from Philadelphia to Dubrovnik (via Frankfurt, Germany) on Wednesday/Thursday. Penn will depart Sunday morning for Split, where they are scheduled to play Monday night against KK Kaštela from the Prva Liga. On Wednesday, the team will move on to Zagreb where they are scheduled for a Thursday night game with another Premijer Liga team in KK Dubrava Furnir Zagreb.
 
The team has already enjoyed guided tours of the Old City of Dubrovnik, a boat trip to Lopud—one of the Elaphiti Islands—and a cable car ride to views overlooking Dubrovnik and the Adriatic Sea.
 
In Split, the team is excited to attend Game 3 of the Croatian Basketball Championship on Tuesday, which for the third time in four years is a "Dalmatian Derby" between Split and regular-season champion Zadar. The team also will tour the ancient city of Split including the entrance to Diocletian's Cellars, go river tubing on the Cetina River as part of a day in the Dalmatian hinterlands, and enjoy lunch at Plitvice Lakes National Park on the way to Zagreb on Wednesday
 
While in Zagreb, the team will get a walking tour of the city highlighted by a visit to the Museum of Illusions among their three days in the city, before the Quakers return to Philadelphia on the afternoon of Saturday, June 1.
 
This is Penn's second trip abroad under head coach Steve Donahue; the Quakers went to Italy in May of 2019.
 
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