Halftime: Penn men's basketball leads Cornell, 37-30, after 20 minutes

 ITHACA, N.Y. — Cold weather hasn’t prevented the Quakers from heating up inside Newman Arena.

At halftime, Penn men’s basketball leads Cornell, 37-30, in the team’s search for its first Ivy League win of the season.

The contest was close early on as neither team was able to get in an offensive rhythm in the opening minutes. Guards Antonio Woods and Bryce Washington started the scoring for the Quakers with three-pointers from the outside, but aside from that the Red and Blue weren’t able to create many scoring opportunities. 

Contributing to those struggles was some sloppy play on the offensive side of the ball. Penn turned the ball over seven times in the first 10 minutes of the game, including at least once from each of their five starters. 

However, that didn’t stop the Quakers from holding the lead for much of the first half. Success from behind the arc, where the Red and Blue scored 18 of their first 20 points, and on defense, where they held Cornell without a field goal for nearly eight minutes, allowed them to stay in front. 

Strong play on the boards was also key to the Quakers’ early success. Penn had seven offensive rebounds in the half to Cornell’s three and had six more rebounds overall. The Red and Blue then used those boards to create more opportunities to score. 

Washington continued his success from last Saturday’s win over Saint Joseph’s, when he scored a career-high 23 points and recorded a double-double. In the first 20 minutes on Friday, he totaled 12 points and shot 80 percent from the field. 

Other top performers for the Quakers included a pair of juniors in forward AJ Brodeur, who recorded seven points, four rebounds, and two blocks, and guard Devon Goodman, who scored 10 points and held Matt Morgan, the Ivy League's top scorer, to only six points in the half. 

Read the full recap here.