Penn earns first Ivy League win with a 72-70 victory at Columbia

NEW YORK -- Very little has come easy this season for Penn in the Ivy League, including earning its first Ivy League win. That elusive victory finally came because of the effort of AJ Brodeur, who scored 18 of his season-high 24 points in the second half as the Quakers defeated Columbia, 72-70 on Saturday at Levien Gymnasium.

A year after winning the Ivy League tournament, Penn has dug itself an early hole to qualify for the four-team tourney this year. The Quakers are 13-7 and 1-3 in the Ivy. Columbia fell to 6-12, 1-3.

At least Penn has recent history of rebounding from a poor start in the league. Two years ago, Penn lost its first six Ivy League games, but eventually qualified for the tournament with a 6-8 mark.

“I thought we showed true grit, which is our calling card, and that is how we typically win games.” Penn coach Steve Donahue said.

As the score suggests, Penn had to do all it could to hold off the pesky Lions. Columbia shot 17-for-24 (70.8) in the second half and 31-for-53 for the game (58.5 percent). Still, Penn was able to prevail thanks to Brodeur making several big shots down the stretch.

"In late-game situations, my teammates put a lot of trust in me, and I have the confidence to make those shots,” said Brodeur, who was 8-for-12 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line.

The win wasn’t secured until Columbia’s Gabe Stefanini missed an off-balanced mid-range jumper and Penn’s Bryce Washington grabbed the rebound at the buzzer.

“We had three guys guarding him on that last possession,” Donahue said.

It started with Devon Goodman guarding Stefanini, switched to Brodeur and ended with Antonio Woods.

“Antonio came over, because he read the play, and I thought he really distracted the shot,” Donahue said.

The Quakers got 19 points from Goodman and got a strong game off the bench from 6-8 senior Max Rothschild, who has missed three games this season with a back injury and played a total of only 11 minutes in the previous three games. Rothschild scored nine points.

Stefanini, Columbia’s 6-foot-3 sophomore, entered the game averaging 12.6 points. He scored 27 points. When he slightly cooled off, 6-0 senior Quinton Adlesh took over. Adlesh scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half.

A key point came with Columbia trailing, 70-68, Stefanini missed a driving layup and then fouled Goodman, who hit both free throws for a 72-68 advantage with 1:41 left.

Penn’s Antonio Woods then drew an offensive foul, but Stefanini made it 72-70, turning a Penn turnover into a driving layup with 1:02 left.

Woods then missed a driving layup but Columbia’s last chance ended on Stefanini’s missed jumper with 1 second remaining.

Penn trailed, 23-12 near the midway part of the first half, but made up the deficit and led, 32-31, at halftime.

The Quakers entered the game last in the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.621), but foul shooting kept them in the game in the first half, where they hit 11 of 12. For the game, Penn shot 21-for-27 (77.8 percent).