In a hard-fought battle between the current fourth and fifth-place teams of the Ivy Conference, Penn men’s basketball fell to Brown 88-79, which ended their Ivy win streak of two games.
Penn (6-12, 2-3 Ivy) started the game trying to stay on Brown’s (10-8, 2-3 Ivy) heels, but the Quakers were struggling to find the net for the first half. After Brown reigned victorious in the tip-off, Penn’s starters, featuring senior center/forward Nick Spinoso and senior guard George Smith, could not initially keep up with the Bears. Freshman guard AJ Levine initiated Penn’s play by securing the ball on their side, setting up junior guard/forward Ethan Roberts for the Quakers’ first points of the game.
“Brown from the start was ready to go,” said coach Steve Donahue. “As much as we talked about it, we didn’t do a good job out of the gates ... It just felt [Brown was] really locked in early.”
Maintaining the lead was difficult for Penn as Brown never allowed the score gap to extend beyond a one-possession deficit. At a narrow lead of 56-55 with 13 minutes remaining in the second half, junior guard Dylan Williams drained a triple in an attempt to keep the Bears at bay, but Brown guard Alexander Lesburt Jr. easily matched the three-pointer during Brown’s next possession and continued his powerhouse shooting — closing the first half with an impressive 7-of-8 from beyond the arc. His three-point prowess was difficult to contain throughout the remainder of the game.
The game finally shifted in Penn’s direction when Spinoso and Smith show started.
The Quakers came out of the locker room with stronger motivations in their eyes as the dynamic duo of Spinoso and Smith went a perfect 5-for-5 on the boards. Spinoso started the shift with an aggressive spin and jump move in the paint over Brown’s defense, which Smith quickly followed up in the next play with a clutch four-point play that brought the Quakers within 2 points, 48-46.
The two-point deficit did not last long as Spinoso made an amazing assist for Smith to knock down a layup that tied the game. Spinoso closed their sensational scoring run with a big-man offensive play that brought Penn to its first lead in the game.
Maintaining the lead was difficult for Penn as Brown never allowed the score gap to extend beyond a one-possession deficit. At a narrow lead of 56-55 with 13 minutes remaining in the second half, junior guard Dylan Williams drained a triple in an attempt to keep the Bears at bay, but Lesburt Jr. easily matched the three-pointer during Brown’s next possession.
Six minutes later, that situation was mirrored as Roberts drowned a shot from downtown to bring Penn to a four-point lead, but Brown guard/forward Aaron Cooley kept the Bears close as he scored a triple across the court in the following play.
Brown continued to regain momentum as Cooley drove through three Penn defenders to finish a contested layup. This play started indomitable momentum for Brown as they immediately scored again on the ensuing plays. Evidence of their offensive domination was demonstrated by a heavy block on sophomore guard Sam Brown that led to a three-point sink at Brown’s net. The Bears began to trail away on the boards despite the Quakers’ best attempts, and the Quakers ultimately lost 79-88. This brings their current Ivy League Conference ranking to a tie for fourth with Brown, Harvard, and Dartmouth.
Penn will take on Yale at the Palestra on Feb. 1 to complete their back-to-back game weekend.
“I do think this is a learning experience, [as] painful as it is … tomorrow night, you [will need] to have a short memory," Donahue said, "What you [have to] do is understand how hungry you got to be, understand how hard you have to play to win games in this league.”
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