PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and knocked off city rival La Salle on Saturday at the Cathedral Classic, 73-71.
 
Penn has now won four in a row and improved to 5-2, including 3-0 so far this season against city foes. The Quakers are also unbeaten in their two games at the Cathedral Classic and will play Hofstra in a de facto championship game tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Both teams are 2-0 in tourney play so far.
 
La Salle fell to 3-5 overall and will finish tournament play tomorrow at noon against Merrimack.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*For the first time this season, Penn won a game it was trailing at halftime; the Quakers were 0-2 in such games prior to Saturday.
 
*For the third straight game, Penn shot at least 50 percent from the field as the Quakers were exactly 50 percent on Saturday—both overall (26-52) and from beyond the arc (10-20).
 
*Penn had 17 foul shots to La Salle's eight; the Quakers have taken more free throws than their opponent in every game this season and are +46 in FT attempts against Division I opponents.
 
*Penn had six blocked shots on Saturday, a season high.
 
*Junior TJ Power had a monster game, especially offensively as he scored 29 points on a night when he shot 10-17 from the field including 5-8 from three-point land. Power (who scored 19 of his points after halftime) also added six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
 
*Senior Ethan Roberts was the Red and Blue's only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 12 points to go with four rebounds and two assists. He has hit double figures in the scoring column in every game this season, the only Penn player to do so.
 
*Junior Augustus Gerhart tied for game-high honors with seven rebounds.
 
*Freshman Jay Jones proved to be a revelation: he saw his first action since Providence on November 11, coming into the game in the second half and contributing seven points, three rebounds, an assist and two steals in a little more than 12 minutes of action.
 
*Sophomore AJ Levine also had seven points on Saturday and added five assists with just one turnover.
 
*La Salle got 14 points from Justin Archer and 12 each from Ashton Walker and Jaeden Marshall. Eric Acker scored eight points and dished out a game-high seven assists, while Edwin Daniel tied Gerhart for game-high honors with seven rebounds.
 
How It Happened
The Quaker offense got off to a bit of a slow start on Saturday, being outshot 10-5 and outrebounded 7-3 in the opening minutes. Roberts did a good job negating the slow start by getting to the charity stripe early, hitting four free throws in the first five minutes.
 
Following the Roberts free throws, Penn's offense began to pick up the pace. Baskets by Power and freshman Dalton Scantlebury helped spur on an offensive surge that saw the Quakers go on an 11-4 run midway through the first half. Power scored six of the 11 points during this run and ended his first half with 10 points and five rebounds.
 
Penn's run forced a timeout by La Salle. It would be exactly what they needed, as they would turn Penn over three times in just under two minutes to score six-straight points and get themselves right back in the game.
 
By the 12-minute mark, both teams' offenses were in full swing. Penn and La Salle exchanged baskets on 10-consecutive possessions to spark a high-scoring first half. La Salle would take a 44-38 lead into half behind a very balanced offensive attack, with five Explorers scoring between six and eight points.
 
The second half saw La Salle pick up right where it left off. The Explorers opened the second half with nine unanswered points to extend their lead to 15. Walker started the run with five points and an assist to boost his day.
 
Following this start, Power single-handedly brought the Quakers back, hitting four triples and assisting on another to cut the deficit to seven. Power would end the game with 29 points and five three-pointers made.
 
Power's performance ignited the Quakers' offense once more, with Penn taking the lead with under four minutes to go and never looking back. It was a nervy finish, as Penn missed the front end of two 1-and-1, the back half of a third, and turned the ball over to give the Explorers a chance to win the game with a triple. However, the shot came up well short and the ball was still bouncing around as the final horn went off.
 
Up Next
Penn closes out Cathedral Classic play on Sunday afternoon, hosting Hofstra at 2:30 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.