PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team may have been playing Columbia on Friday night, but it was the Quakers and not the Lions who roared at the end of the game in taking a 76-67 victory at The Palestra.
 
A Michael Zanoni three-pointer gave Penn a 3-2 lead; the Red and Blue would not lead again until Ethan Roberts hit a three-pointer with 2:42 left in the game to make the score 64-63. Roberts was simply astounding down the stretch, scoring 16 points in the game's final 5:08—12 of them coming in the final 2:42—to lead the way.
 
Penn (12-10 overall) improved to 5-4 in league play and is tied for third place with tomorrow night's opponent, Cornell.  Columbia fell to 3-6 in Ivy play and 14-9 overall.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn improved to 9-2 at The Palestra this season.
 
*Penn won a game in which it led for just 2:46 of game time; Columbia lost a game that it led for 33:23.
 
*Penn won for just the second time when trailing at halftime; the other came against La Salle. The Quakers are now 2-7 in such games.
 
*Penn won for just the second time when getting outrebounded by its opponent; the other came, you guessed it, vs. La Salle. The Quakers are now 2-7 in such games.
 
*Where was this game won? Well, Penn committed 10 turnovers and Columbia committed 20. The Quakers had 22 points off turnovers compared to five for the Lions.
 
*Penn tied a season high with 10 steals on Friday night; the Quakers also did it against NJIT on December 31.
 
*Penn won for just the third time this season when shooting a worse field-goal percentage than its opponent (Columbia 48.1 percent, Penn 43.5 percent).
 
*Roberts' big finish gave him 21 points for the night, his team-leading seventh game with 20 or more points. The Quakers are 6-1 in those games.
 
*Zanoni finished the night with 16 points, shooting an efficient 6-10 from the field.
 
*Junior TJ Power had 12 points on Friday and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
*How about the stat line put together by sophomore guard AJ Levine? He flirted with a double-double—scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds—and also dished out six assists and came up with six steals.
 
*Sophomore Lucas Lueth also had nine points and grabbed two offensive boards.
 
*Freshman Dalton Scantlebury had another solid night with three points, four rebounds and three assists while Jay Jones scored three points and added three boards.
 
*Columbia was led by Kenny Noland, who had 22 points, and Miles Franklin who finished with a double-double (14 points/10 rebounds). Blair Thompson added 11 points.
 
How It Happened
Zanoni's trey was Penn's only field goal in the game's first five minutes, and Columbia took advantage to go in front 10-3. The Quakers got back within 13-12 with 11 minutes left, and tied it at 23-23 on another Zanoni three-pointer with 5:20 to play. However, Noland almost immediately dialed long distance to restore his team's lead and the advantage held to the end of the half, Columbia taking a 37-34 lead into the locker room.
 
Power hit a triple to open the second half, tying things up, and then the teams traded the next four buckets to 41-41. Penn went nearly five minutes without a field goal after that, though, and when Noland drained a three-pointer with 14:19 left Columbia's run was 12-2 and the Lions had their first double-digit lead of the night, 53-43.
 
Now it was Columbia's turn to go ice cold; the Lions wouldn't score for nearly six minutes. Penn used the skid to score ten straight and draw back level. The key sequence came as the clock went under 12 minutes, as Lueth hit a three-pointer and then Power followed with a triple of his own off a Levine feed. It took more than three minutes after that, but Lueth finally got it to 53-53 when Scantlebury's shot was blocked but Lueth picked up the loose ball and put it in.
 
Thompson finally got the Lions back on the board, only for Lueth to score again on a second-chance offensive board. Franklin converted on Columbia's next possession, and then nearly three minutes went by without either team scoring. Roberts finally ended the drought with a pair of free throws, tying the game at 55-55 with 5:08 to play.
 
Turned out, he was just getting started.
 
Columbia actually scored the game's next four points, Noland drilling a second-chance three-pointer to answer Roberts' foul shots and then Mason Ritter knocking down a free throw on the Lions' next possession. Roberts hit a turnaround over his man in the lane, and then Penn forced a jump ball that sent the teams to the under-4 media timeout. Out of the stoppage, Columbia threw it away on the inbounds with Zanoni picking up the loose ball and converting to tie things at 61-61.
 
Ritter again got to the line and made one of two, and then it felt like it might be one of those nights when Roberts leaned in for a shot that rolled around the rim once…then twice…and then rimmed out. Columbia came down and Franklin missed in the lane, but Ritter was fouled on the rebound and once again split two freebies for a 63-61 lead.
 
Roberts got a good look from distance but was off the mark, but Scantlebury secured the offensive board and got it back out to the senior. This time his shot rolled around once…then twice…then flushed through to give Penn its first lead since 3-2.
 
Columbia was not rattled. Thompson drove for a layup to put the Lions back in front, and after Roberts dialed long distance for the second straight possession Noland scored in the paint. That tied the score at 67-67 with 1:36 to play.
 
Those would be the Lions' last points of the night.
 
Roberts got stuck under the basket and Penn head coach Fran McCaffery quickly called timeout with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. Out of the stoppage, Scantlebury got the call in the lane and he was true with a baby hook. Then Noland was harassed by Levine, who forced a turnover. The sophomore got the ball to Roberts in transition, and the senior sunk a little runner from the left side to make it a two-possession game.
 
Columbia called timeout, but once again their plans came undone when Levine got a hand in as a Lions player drove into the lane. The Quakers were able to get the ball down the court and Columbia finally fouled Roberts with 19 seconds left. He hit both, the first two of five foul shots that set the final score.
 
Up Next
Penn concludes this three-game homestand tomorrow night, hosting Cornell at 6 p.m. The Big Red rolled past Princeton Friday night at Jadwin Gym, 89-65.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.