Penn beats Columbia for third straight win

One of the highest-scoring teams in the Ivy League visited Penn at the Palestra on Friday night. It was not one of Columbia's better efforts.

Penn held the Lions to about 16 points below their average, and put a 64-54 victory in the books that gave the Quakers their third consecutive win.

"We always talk about some days the ball is going in the basket, and some days it's not," said Penn coach Jerome Allen, whose team went 22 for 57 from the floor. "But if you're consistent in your defensive effort, you always give yourself a chance to win."

Penn, which improved to 12-12 overall and 6-4 in the Ancient Eight, received a sparkling 17-point, nine-assist night from junior point guard Zack Rosen. Teammates Miles Cartwright (13) and Tyler Bernardini (11) also reached double figures, and forward Jack Eggleston contributed eight points and 11 rebounds.

Columbia had won three in a row over the Quakers, who lost, 75-62, two weeks ago on the Lions' home court. Penn led all the way in the rematch.

"I'm not one to make excuses, but when we got to that Columbia game in Manhattan, I think mentally and physically we were a little tired," Allen said when asked about the teams' first encounter this season. "We had played three consecutive overtime games, and that takes something out of you."

Under first-year coach Kyle Smith, Columbia was averaging 70.6 points a game and ranked second in the Ivies with Brown.

Penn had a five-point lead after a first half that included a combined 8-for-52 shooting performance by the teams. With less than 15 minutes remaining in the game, the Quakers were up by 34-22. Columbia's deficit with 1 minute, 31 seconds remaining was 59-50.

Columbia guards Noruwa Agho (20) and Brian Barbour (19) teamed for 39 points, but to no avail as the Lions wound up shooting 38.5 percent.

The Lions did not score from the field for more than six minutes as Penn opened up a 17-9 advantage. But the visitors rallied and trailed by just 20-18, with a chance to tie it.

Then Cartwright drew a charging foul against Agho, and the Quakers took over with 38.7 seconds left. After Eggleston got his hand on a missed shot by Bernardini and slapped it into the backcourt, Rosen completed the first-half scoring by draining a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give Penn a 23-18 lead.

"This was the last home weekend for our seniors, and I think it was really important that we come out here and fight," Rosen said. "We did a good job, especially in the first half on defense. We scored 23 points in the first half, with a three at the end, but we played well enough on defense to stay in the game."

Notes. Forward Rob Belcore suffered an ankle injury during Penn's win over Yale last week and did not dress. . . . Suiting up for Columbia was Brian Grimes, a 6-7 senior forward from Philadelphia who started his college career at La Salle. He attended Germantown Academy, then spent a year at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.