Penn closes out the three-day Cathedral Classic at the Palestra with a massive win over Monmouth

Two hard-fought games on Friday and Saturday. Two contests in which Penn had to claw back from a nine-point and a 12-point second-half deficit, respectively.

An hour and 25 minutes of basketball over two days amounted to a 1-1 record.

And less than 20 hours after its overtime loss on Saturday to Belmont, Penn had to recover in time to face a capable Monmouth team that had easily handled both of Penn’s previous two opponents.

Not exactly a recipe for success.

But on Sunday, Penn (5-3) bounced back in dominant fashion, routing the Hawks, 76-61, in the final game of the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra. The Quakers earned the win behind a breakout performance from freshman guard Sam Brown, who scored 16 points.

In its first game on Friday against Lafayette, Brown came off the bench and played well, notching 12 points with three deep balls. So head coach Steve Donahue inserted Brown into the starting lineup on Saturday, a move that could’ve come sooner if not for an ankle injury Brown struggled with during the first four games of the season.

In just his second start as a Quaker, Brown, the son of former 76ers coach Brett Brown, had a career day in points (16) and minutes (32) against Monmouth (4-3).

Over the course of the three-day tournament, fellow freshman guard Tyler Perkins was also a big factor for the Quakers. Against Lafayette, he had 25 points. On Sunday against Monmouth, he tallied 15.

Last season, Penn cruised through the inaugural Cathedral Classic with double-digit victories over each of its three opponents. This season’s deck was stacked more heavily against Penn, with a playing field that included Monmouth, Belmont (4-3), and Lafayette (1-6).

In its first game on Friday against Lafayette, Penn trailed by nine with six minutes left but clawed its way back late. Down two with 33 seconds left, junior guard George Smith hit a clutch three from the right wing to put the Quakers up for good.

Penn’s next game looked like it might take the same trajectory, as the Quakers fell behind by as much as 12 in the second half to Belmont and inched their way back. With 41 seconds left and trailing by four, senior guard Clark Slajchert hit a timely jumper and drove in for a game-tying layup to even the score — helped in large part by several Belmont free throw misses.

But in overtime, Penn hit the skids and found itself on the latter end of an 84-79 final.

On Sunday against the Hawks, the situation was flipped. Penn rushed out to a 20-point lead early in the second half behind a 28-8 run but began to slip late, allowing the lead to drop as low as seven. The Quakers held on, though, finishing the Cathedral Classic alongside Monmouth with a 2-1 record.

“I think we were all saying to each other, ‘Just keep our foot on the gas. Don’t be complacent. We know people can come back,’ " said Slajchert. “We were down 10 at half last time and we forced overtime, so it’s fresh in our mind. We knew that that could happen.”

At Michigan, students hurried back to campus on Black Friday to make sure they were in the building for Saturday’s big football game against Ohio State. Suffice it to say, Penn students were not doing the same for the second annual Cathedral Classic — evidenced by the practically empty student section during all three of the Quakers’ games.

Still, attendance hovered in the 1,500 to 1,800 range (about average for a Penn home game) thanks to a strong showing of older Penn fans and supporters of the other schools who made the trip out.

Upcoming for the Quakers is the inaugural Big 5 Classic, to be held at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. Penn will play La Salle (4-1), Temple (3-2), or Drexel (3-3) for either third or fifth place in the Big 5.