Several players stepped up for Penn men's basketball during its busy week, but none stepped up more than sophomore Ryan Betley.
Betley's 71 points over four games were more than any other Quaker and enough to earn him DP Sports' Player of the Week. The guard has been a go-to scorer for Penn in tough situations, especially when opponents focus on classmate AJ Brodeur inside.
Over the last week, Betley shot above 43 percent from the floor and snatched 19 rebounds. He rounded out his stat line with eight assists and three steals. With four games in a six-day stretch, fatigue was a major factor for Penn, but it seemed to affect Betley the least. In total, Betley was on the floor for a combined 154 minutes out of a possible 180.
Betley’s two best games of the year so far also came this week. Against Towson on Tuesday, he scored 25 points in the team's only losing effort at the Gulf Coast Showcase. He shot a whopping 8-for-12 from the floor, including 4-for-7 from three. After going down 32-23 in the first half, Betley supplied Penn’s final eight points of the period to narrow the deficit to four.
Betley also shined in Saturday night’s marathon quadruple-overtime win over Monmouth. With the rest of the team in foul trouble, Betley played 55 of 60 minutes and scored 26 points. The guard shot 50% from deep, tying a career high with six three-pointers.
Down the stretch, Donahue repeatedly went to Betley in key possessions. In the third overtime alone, Betley scored seven points, including two key three-pointers to give Penn an early cushion in the penultimate extra period. He then hit three free throws to provide the Quakers' last three points in the final session.
While it isn't necessarily represented on the stat sheet, Betley's performance on defense was similarly impressive. The sophomore had two steals against Monmouth and helped to hold the Hawks to 8-for-22 shooting beyond the arc.
Without Betley's hot shooting, Penn's monumental victory over Monmouth could have had a much more disappointing result for the Red and Blue.
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