Penn beats Dartmouth for its eighth straight win as tournament time nears

Winners of its last eight games, Penn held on, 89-79, against Dartmouth to earn a chance at the top seed in the Ivy League.

Junior Jordan Dingle led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, three steals, and a block. Senior Lucas Monroe finished with 13 points nine rebounds, and three assists.

“Finally, I think we’re over the pandemic,” said Penn coach Steve Donahue. “Everyone understands their role and played well. I’m thrilled that their last game for those seniors turned out the way it did.”

Senior Dame Adelekun did it all for the Big Green, recording 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Penn (17-11, 9-4 Ivy League) shot 61.5% from the floor, including 42.1% from deep, while Dartmouth (9-18, 5-8) shot 52.7% from the floor, including 44.8% from three.

» READ MORE: Penn’s Jordan Dingle is hoping to win big things with the Quakers

In honor of Senior Day, Penn coach Steve Donahue opted to give seniors Max Lorca-Lloyd, Michael Moshkovitz, Jonah Charles, and Monroe the start alongside Dingle.

The veteran lineup got off to a blazing start, shooting 9-of-9 from the field and building a 20-12 lead. Feisty defense also led to six Penn steals, which helped generate easy offense.

The Big Green responded well with knock-down three-point shooting, hitting 7 of its first 12 to stay competitive.

Dingle and Monroe’s hustle made an impact on both sides of the floor. Dingle scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had three steals in the first half while Monroe added nine points and six rebounds while contributing stellar on-ball defense to help the Quakers maintain a 48-40 lead.

Junior Clark Slajchert played his role as an efficient scorer, adding in 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Though the pace slowed down in the second half, the Palestra exploded when Dingle blew right past a double team and jammed a one-handed slam.

Dartmouth continued to find the bottom of the net from deep, slowly cutting the lead to 64-61 with 9 minutes, 27 seconds remaining and forcing Donahue to call a timeout.

“I don’t think I’ve called a timeout like that during this whole [eight-game stretch],” Donahue said. “After that timeout, I feel that we came out and executed.”

Penn found its footing as junior Max Martz sparked a 7-0 run to push the lead to double digits before Dartmouth again climbed back into striking distance.

“If you ask me, ‘Describe a Penn basketball player,’ just look at [Martz],” said Donahue. “That’s why you win. You win with guys like him — that makeup, that character, that toughness.”

In the final minutes, Adelekun bullied the Quakers in the paint, scoring on three straight possessions. However, baskets from Nick Spinoso, Slajchert, and Martz allowed the Quakers to survive the tense game.

“It’s really a mental thing, just staying composed and understanding teams are going to go on 6, 7-0 runs but don’t let it get to 11, 12, 13,” Monroe said.

Penn will visit Princeton (18-8, 9-4) on Saturday (noon, ESPNews) in its regular-season finale. The game, which features the top teams in the Ivy League standings, could determine the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which starts March 11 at Princeton.

“It would be sweet to end my five-game losing streak against [Princeton] with a regular-season title on their court,” Monroe said. “But we go into every game with the same approach, and that’s what has been helping us win.”