City of Basketball Love

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Penn continued its best start in quite some time with an impressive 80-64 win over La Salle on Wednesday night in the Big 5 opener.

At First…
Even with star Jordan Price struggling out of the gate then sitting the latter portion of the first half with two fouls, La Salle got out to a double-digit lead early on, going up 30-20 late with under for minutes left in the first half. Cleon Roberts picked up the slack for his high-scoring teammate, scoring 14 first-half points. The Explorers smothered Penn 3-point sniper Sam Jones, Penn’s leading scorer, with an early backdoor layup representing his only points of the half.

Turning Point…
In the last two minutes of the first half, Penn used a quick 9-2 to spurt to make it a manageable three-point halftime deficit, but the momentum didn’t stop there. Led by Darien Nelson-Henry, the Quakers came out hot, extending that run into a 30-9 stretch that ended with a 50-39 lead around the 13-minute mark of the second half.

After La Salle cut that advantage to as little as five, Penn put things away thanks to a 3-point play by Nelson-Henry and 3-pointer by Jones that made it a 65-52 game with 6:38 remaining.

Standout Stars…
Nelson-Henry took advantage of La Salle’s focus on Penn's 3-point shooters and lack of an experienced post presence, getting consistent position down low and elevating over opponents for rebounds. He finished with career highs 31 points and 14 rebounds, with seven of his points coming during a 10-2 spurt after halftime that gave the Quakers a five-point lead.

Jones had 16 of his 18 in the second half.

With Price struggling with foul trouble for much of the first half, Roberts shouldered most of the scoring load for the Explorers. He topped his season average of 13.0 points per game before halftime, scoring 14 in the opening session and finishing with a season-high 20. Price finished with 18.

Noteworthy Numbers…
This was Penn's first win over La Salle since 2007, and its first Big 5 opener since 2004, when the Quakers beat the Explorers 78-67.

Up Next…
La Salle (3-0) @ Rowan (2-4) (Nov. 28, 3 PM)
Penn (3-1) @ Lafayette (1-3) (Nov. 29, 2 PM)