Penn Men’s Basketball Streak Hits Five Losses with Defeat at Brown

The Quakers hoped to finish the road trip weekend in a better mood after their match against Brown, following a heartbreaking close game against Yale the previous evening. However, the Penn men’s basketball team lost to Brown 82-72 without ever taking the lead. 

“I thought we were just very inconsistent on the defensive end and, at times, on the offensive end,” coach Steve Donahue said. “[We were] just not playing up [to] how well you have to play to win on the road.”

The Quakers (6-16, 2-7 Ivy) battled to keep up with Brown in an intense first half, but they could not overtake the Bears (12-10, 4-5), and they ended the half four points behind. 

While teammate forward Landon Lewis held Penn at bay with a strong block on Penn junior guard/forward Ethan Roberts, Brown guard Alexander Lesburt Jr. scored the first four points. Roberts, however, was unfazed by that and scored Penn’s first points with a driving layup.

With his first three-pointer of the game, star Brown guard Kino Lilly Jr. reached a significant milestone, topping 1800 points in his career. With 23 points overall, he ultimately appeared as his team’s top scorer. 

Lewis also had an impressive game with 20 points, five blocks, and seven rebounds. In this game, Lewis and Lilly Jr. were an unbeatable duo. 

“I thought [Lilly] got loose in the second half,” Donahue said. “We did not do a good job, and he got some open looks. … I give [Lewis] credit. He made some difficult shots at times, but if you’re going to win on the road, you try to hold the best players down better than we did.”

Nick Spinoso, a senior forward/center, made a layup seven minutes into the first half to tie the score between the Quakers and the Bears, a tie that never happened again. Spinoso made a three-pointer on Penn’s following possession to cut the deficit to one point, and four minutes later, he replicated his signature hook to make the score 26-28.  

Aggression on both sides of the brown-and-red court increased during the second half of the match. The Quakers were able to stay close to the Bears because of their significant advantage in free throws. 

The Quakers went on a seven-point run, developing plenty of momentum to stay in the game after Lilly Jr. tripled to extend Brown’s lead to nine points, the Bears’ largest lead to date. Roberts went 3-for-3 at the line after hitting the floor during a three-pointer attempt. When Brown got the ball back, senior guard George Smith made a steal, resulting in an important fast break and tip into the hoop for two more points. Roberts’ massive overhead pass to sophomore guard Sam Brown, who completed the play with an impressive reverse layup and pump fake, was the play’s peak. 

Late in the second half, Penn benefited from a seven-point play that was started by Brown forward N’famara Dabo’s flagrant foul. Dabo roughly hit Spinoso with a hard forearm after sophomore guard/forward Niklas Polonowski made a three-pointer, which was ruled a flagrant foul penalty. Roberts completed the seven-point play with a three-point swisher, and Penn took advantage of their possession of the ball after Spinoso drained one of his two attempts at the charity stripe. 

Penn lost to the Bears 82-72 at the end of the game, unable to overcome them despite these strong plays. 

Brown, his teammate, and Roberts both had outstanding scoring performances. Roberts finished with 26 points and three rebounds, while the latter finished with 19 points, two defensive rebounds, and six of six free throws. 

On February 21, Penn men’s basketball will play Dartmouth at the Palestra.