Gamecenter: Brown 66, Penn 61

1st 2nd Final
Brown (13-8, 5-2 Ivy) 30 36 66
Brown (8-15, 3-3 Ivy) 29 32 61
The Palestra – Philadelphia, PA Boxscore
 
Postgame audio: Brown | Penn
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence After Penn closed out the first half on a 16-3 run to trail by only 30-29 at halftime, Brown opened the second half with a 15-4 run of its own to go back up by double digits. The Bears did most of the damage with layups, repeatedly getting inside and scoring from close range, with Chris Skrelja getting three such buckets. Meanwhile, Brown was coming up with steals at the defensive end, as Damon Huffman alone had three thefts during this stretch. A Skrelja layup at the 15:36 mark made it 45-33 in the visitors’ favor.
Key sign it was over With 13 seconds left in the game and Brown up 65-60, Mark McAndrew fouled Michael Kach as he missed a three-pointer. However, Kach made the only the first attempt before missing the second two, and Scott Friske was fouled with 11 seconds left and got one of two at the line to make it a five-point game
Key performance Playing against his former coach, Huffman led the Bears at both ends of the floor. He scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-8 from three-point range, pulled down five rebounds, and grabbed an impressive seven steals.
Key statistic In a battle of two teams reliant on the free throw line for offense, it was the Bears who owned the stripe. Brown finished the night 16 of 26 from the line, while Penn was a meager 2 of 6 on free throws.
Notes

– Mark McAndrew tied for the game’s high-scoring honors with 20 points, thanks in large part to 8-for-10 free throw shooting, while Skrelja nearly notched a triple-double with nine points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

– Penn’s Brian Grandieri tied McAndrew for game-high scoring honors with 20 points, while Kevin Egee had another good offensive night with 15 points.

– The result snapped a 24-game Ivy League home winning streak for Penn, with the last home loss coming to Princeton on March 9, 2004. It was in that same season that Miller’s Bears recorded a 78-74 win at The Palestra that bore quite a resemblance to this affair, with Penn climbing out of a deep early hole to come close but never take the lead.

– It was the Quakers who fared better from three-point range, knocking down 9 of 17 (52.9 percent) from long range, while the Bears were 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) on threes.

– Penn freshman Tyler Bernardini returned to action after missing three games due to a concussion, and was in the starting lineup. He played 27 minutes before fouling out, scoring six points — all from three-point range.

– The win was also of personal significance to current Brown coach Craig Robinson, as it was his first career victory at The Palestra. While at Princeton, his only win over Penn came in a game played at the Spectrum.

– Penn will welcome Yale to The Palestra on Saturday, February 16, for a 6:00 pm ET start, with the unconventional tip time caused by a television broadcast on ESPN Classic. Brown will travel up to Princeton, with that game starting at 7:30 pm ET.

Jonathan Tannenwald

Jonathan Tannenwald wrote 29 posts

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