Lilly, Owusu-Anane with strong performances, but men's basketball falls to Penn

Monday, January 2

Providence, R.I.

7:00 p.m.

Brown University

7-7,0-1Ivy League

Penn

8-7,1-0Ivy League

Penn

Brown

Lilly, Owusu-Anane with strong performances, but men's basketball falls to Penn

1/2/2023 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men's basketball team dropped its Ivy League opener 76-68 to Penn Monday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

Kino Lilly Jr. had 28 points and Nana Owusu-Anane posted his first collegiate double-double with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Quakers.

"It was obviously disappointing that we weren't able to get enough stops in the second half," head coach Mike Martin '04 said. "Offensively, in the first half, we were really poor. In the second half it flipped, we got it going offensively, but couldn't get enough stops.

"You have to credit Penn's two guards [Clark Slajchert and Jordan Dingle]. Their teammates found them, but they made a whole lot of tough shots in the second half."

Slajchert finished with a game-high 31, while Dingle, the nation's third leading scorer, had 20.

Brown opened the game with a 4-0 lead, but Penn responded to take their first lead of the contest at 8-6 at 12:56 of the first. The Bears would battle back and went ahead by three 16-13, following a pair of free throws by Owusu-Anane with 7:50 to go in the frame.

But the Quakers, as they would all game, responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead. They would hold it for the remainder of the first half. A pullup by Lilly in the final seconds of the half cut the deficit to 25-22 at the break.

The Bears twice regained the lead in the second half; on an and-one by Owusu-Anane to put the Bears up 38-37, and on a block by Kalu Anya followed by a transition layup from the freshman on the other end to give Brown the 47-46 lead. But each time, a bucket by Penn's Slajchert on the very next possession put the Quakers back in front.

Down the stretch, threes by Lilly twice pulled the Bears back within one, but immediate answers from Penn dashed the chances of a Brown comeback.

A layup by Owusu-Anane with 4:41 to play tied the game at 57, but Penn outscored Brown 15-6 over the next three minutes lead by nine with one minute remaining, effectively claiming the victory.

The Bears and Quakers will meet again on Feb. 18 in Philadelphia.

Brown now turns its attention to a pair of home games this weekend against Harvard at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6 and against Dartmouth at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7.

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