Penn basketball snaps skid, takes down Columbia

Penn basketball came out of the gates at the Palestra trying to avoid the number eight. With three games left in their season, a loss against Columbia would have been the Quakers' eighth consecutive defeat and made the Red and Blue's first ever eighth-place Ivy League finish almost inevitable.

But after holding the Lions to a paltry 15 percent shooting in the first half, the Quakers held on for a 54-46 win over their Empire State rivals to snap a program record seven-game Ivy losing streak. With the win, the Red and Blue (8-18, 3-9 Ivy) matched their overall win total from last season.

Junior captain Tony Hicks led the Red and Blue with 19 points while rookie Sam Jones continued his success against the Light Blue in his freshman campaign, hitting four threes after knocking in seven in a 21-point  effort against Columbia (13-14, 5-8) on Feb. 6.

To its credit, Penn began the game with plenty of energy, seizing a lead in the opening minutes behind a three-point play from freshman guard Antonio Woods. Throughout the opening frame, the Quakers shot 40.9 percent from the field, with Jones, Woods and Hicks combining for 18 of the Red and Blue's 23 points.

However, Penn's 23-9 halftime lead was more a product of the Lions' inability to connect from the field. For the first 19:20 of the contest, Columbia did not hit a shot beyond three feet from the basket, save for two free throws. A Luke Petrasek trey with 40 seconds to go before halftime was the Lions first bucket that did not come via layup.

In total, Columbia shot an abysmal 3-for-20 from the field in the first half, going 1-for-12 from beyond the arc.

On the contrary, crisp passing and fluid ball movement allowed the Red and Blue to find openings in the Lions' defense. While Penn missed its own fair share of open shots, two first half threes from Jones and only six turnovers allowed the Quakers to keep their foot on the gas.

Despite the commanding halftime deficit, the Light Blue did not go quietly. While Penn largely handled Columbia's counter punches throughout the early part of the second half, an 11-0 run from the Lions — with nine of those points coming from junior standout Maodo Lo — helped the squad cut a 17-point deficit to six with 4:43 remaining.

But the Quakers responded. After the teams traded free throws, the dagger for Penn's win came with 3:11 to play. On a busted play — one in which Matt Howard attempted a backwards pass behind his head to Hicks — and with the shot clock running down, Hicks managed to find Jones in the corner.

After an up-fake, Jones barely got the shot off before the buzzer and swished home his fourth and final triple of the night. The Gilbert, Ariz., native finished with 14 points on the night.

While the Lions tried to keep the game close with baskets in the latter stage of the game, the Red and Blue managed to seal the game from the charity stripe.

Penn will next be in action on Saturday night against Cornell.

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