Three-point shooting leads Penn to a 92-82 win at Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Penn regained its three-point stroke and in doing so earned its second consecutive Ivy League road win. The Quakers hit 13 of 25 (52 percent) from deep in a 92-82 win over Brown on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

Penn (14-7, 2-3 Ivy) entered the game shooting 36.2 percent from three-point range. This was Penn’s best three-point-shooting performance percentage-wise in more than two months, since the Quakers were 13 of 23 (.565) in an 89-75 win over Miami on Dec. 4. That was also the last time the Quakers made at least 50 percent of their threes in a game.

The Quakers struggled at the foul line, shooting 17-for-28 (60.7 percent), but their three-point shooting bailed them out.

Junior guard Devon Goodman had 21 points and freshman guard Bryce Washington added 20 for Penn. The two were a combined 7-for-10 from three-point range.

“It was part of our game plan to try to get three-point [shots] or a basket inside, and Bryce is a really good shooter," Goodman said. "I think around 50 percent from the three-point line, so every time we go on offense we look at him to get an open three, and just me staying aggressive, shooting the three because I know I can make those.”

Washington hit 4 of 5 threes and is now 48-for-103 (46.6 percent).

“I feel once I start making my threes, our team just goes on a run,” Washington said. “Offensively and defensively I feel we are clicking and I want to make sure I come in every game ready to make my shots, and it happened today.”

Penn’s A.J. Brodeur added 18 points before fouling out late in the game. Senior guard Antonio Woods had four points, six assists, and just one turnover.

He also guarded sophomore Desmond Cambridge, Brown’s leading scorer this season, who had 21 points but shot just 7-for-21.

“Cambridge took 21 shots to get 21 points, and if we don’t have Antonio it is just a big hole how we are going to guard their best player and how we are going to take care of the ball,” Penn coach Steve Donahue said. “He does all the things that help us win and it kind of goes unrecognized at times”

Penn, led 46-34 at halftime after hitting 8 of 16 threes.

Freshman Michael Wang and Brodeur each had nine first-half points for the Quakers, with Wang hitting all three of his three-point attempts.

When Washington and Goodman hit threes on consecutive possessions in the first two minutes of the second half to increase Penn’s lead to 52-36, the Quakers were in command.

Brown (13-8, 1-4) barely hung around and cut the lead to 88-79 with 1:03 left on a three by Zach Hunsaker. The Bears then stole the ball but missed two threes on their next possession, and Washington hit both free throws, making it 90-79 with just 43.7 seconds left.

Penn couldn’t celebrate too long because on Saturday the Quakers will visit Yale (14-4, 4-1). Yale is coming off a 74-60 home win Friday over Princeton, handing the Tigers their first Ivy League defeat.