City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
& Jeff Griffith (Jeff_Griffith21)
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Despite a career game from Drexel’s Miles Overton, Penn rode strong second halves from freshman A.J. Brodeur and junior Darnell Foreman to a 75-67 win in the Battle of 33rd Street.

At First…
With Penn freshmen Ryan Betley and Devon Goodman earning their first starts -- and really, significant minutes of any kind -- the Quakers didn’t miss a step early, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first 11-plus minutes to open up a lead as big as nine on a Betley triple with 8:36 until the break. Drexel scored 11 of the next 16 points to get back within two, and Penn’s lead was 37-33 at halftime.

Turning Point…
With the lead up to nine points with just over 10 minutes remaining, sophomore Max Rothschild had a four-point possession. The 6-8 forward had a strong take with his right hand that drew a foul, but missed the ensuing free-throw to complete a 3-point play. Betley, however, knocked the rebound loose and the ball ended up in the hands of Rothschild -- who again attacked the rim and finished, putting his team up 60-47 with 9:51 to play, capping a 13-3 stretch by the Quakers.

Standout Stars…
On a night that featured Penn freshmen, forward A.J. Brodeur had another strong performance for the Quakers, leading his team with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting while adding six boards. Junior guard Darnell Forman added 12 points, 10 in the second half

Drexel junior Miles Overton continues to put a rough start to the year behind him, finishing with a career-high 19 points to get into double figures for the fifth time in six games. After averaging just 5.0 ppg through the Dragons’ first five games, he’s averaging 13.0 ppg over the last eight, though he missed two of those games due to injury.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
44: Combined minutes for Penn freshmen Ryan Betley and Devon Goodman, both of whom started for the first time. Betley had missed the first nine games of the season with a hand injury; Goodman had only played a total of 15 minutes all season heading in, but saw 18 minutes of action on Wednesday.

1: Although the Penn lead was in single digits for the majority of the game, there was only one lead change, and it came in the first two minutes, when Penn gained a 4-2 lead on a Matt Howard layup. The Quakers never trailed from that point.

17: Drexel struggled to take care of the ball, as they finished with 17 turnovers, six of which were committed by freshman Kurk Lee. Penn capitalized, getting 15 points off of those takeaways.

6: Penn's win snapped a six-game losing streak to Penn in the rivalry game, increasing its lead in the series to 16-10 in the process.

Up Next…
Penn (5-5) vs. Fairfield (6-4) -- Fri., Dec. 30, 4 PM
Drexel (6-7) @ James Madison (1-11) -- Sat., Dec. 31, 2 PM