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Penn survives Monmouth in wild 4OT win

11/25/2017, 11:45pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Ryan Betley (above, last season) and Penn played the second 4OT game in program history, beating Monmouth on Saturday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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A short road trip to the Jersey shore ended up becoming one of the longest games in Penn’s storied basketball history.

The Quakers and Monmouth needed to play the equivalent an entire extra half of basketball to settle their differences, with Penn coming away tired but happy following a 101-96 victory in four overtimes.

It was a nearly four-hour roller-coaster that featured 16 ties, 15 lead changes, 101 foul shots and seven players fouling out. And for the last two overtimes, some internet issues in the arena left pretty much everybody who wasn’t there wondering exactly what was going on.

“Crazy” was how Penn basketball coach Steve Donahue described it. “Just absolutely nuts.”

It’s the second time in Penn’s 120 seasons of college basketball that the Quakers have needed four extra periods. The first time came over 97 years ago, on March 13, 1920 -- a 26-23 win over archrival Princeton.

This one featured just a little more excitement -- and a lot more scoring.

Monmouth’s Austin Tilghman played hero twice for the Hawks, first hitting a crazy bank shot at the end of regulation, and then a three-pointer at the end of the third overtime.

Penn freshman Eddie Scott kept the Quakers alive in the second overtime with a put-back dunk to tie it with five seconds to go, part of a breakthrough night for the talented youngster.

The final blow came from Penn’s Antonio Woods, as the junior guard found his way to the hoop for a 3-point play with 35 seconds left, putting the Quakers up two. That came after Monmouth led by as many as five just a couple minutes into the fourth OT.

“To persevere like that, with everything that went wrong, and figure out a way to win, was a great sign for our team,” Donahue said. "Being on the winning side of it, obviously you feel good about it -- but it was a wild basketball game.”

Following Woods’ layup, the Hawks missed four foul shots on the other end before Penn was able to seal it from the line.

Neither team shot the ball well from the foul line: Penn was 30-of-50 (60 percent), and Monmouth just 24-of-51 (47.1 percent).

Penn (5-3) has now won five of its past six games after losing its first two to open the season.

The Quakers’ latest victory came on the backs of some unlikely leaders.

Scott, a 6-6 freshman wing from Gonzaga College (D.C.) who had been averaging 2.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg over his first seven games, busted out for a career-best 21 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-double.

“That’s the best thing about this game is that it gave him really valuable minutes, and he really excelled,” Donahue said. “Things that we don’t have on our team -- follow-up dunks, a transition dunk and a foul, taking the ball to the basketball, offensive rebounds. We don’t have that kind of athlete on our team, for him to get confidence today and play like that was a huge step for us.”

Ryan Betley, a sophomore guard and the team’s leading scorer on the season (14.4 ppg), had a game-high 26 for Penn, including the game-sealing foul shots, playing 55 minutes; Woods, a senior, added 23 points in 50 minutes of action.

Tilghman, an Archbishop Carroll grad, flirted with a triple-double for Monmouth, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while playing 48 minutes.

Penn dominated the rebounding battle 56-36, but only got 12 second-chance points from 19 offensive rebounds.

The Quakers were able to extend and extend the game despite being down some of their best players. Sophomore A.J. Brodeur, the team’s leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker as a freshman, fouled out with just under seven minutes remaining. Several minutes later, Darnell Foreman picked up his fifth, and also had to watch all of the extra sessions from the bench.

It was an ugly second half for Penn, who shot 5-for-27 from the field and 1-for-12 from 3-point range in the period. The Quakers blew a 14-point halftime lead and were up 61-56 with 41 seconds to go in regulation; they squandered that advantage within five seconds, allowing Monmouth to take a one-point lead on a three-pointer and three free throws with 36.8 left.

Penn will play its next four games away from the Palestra, though its next one is closer to home. The Quakers travel to Villanova to play the No. 5 Wildcats on Weds., Nov. 29 at Jake Nevin Field House.


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