The University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team secured an 80-61 victory over NJIT at The Palestra, highlighted by a 17-0 run early in the second half. This surge broke open a tie game and helped Penn finish its non-conference schedule with a 7-6 record. NJIT, visiting The Palestra for the first time since 2014, dropped to 5-10.
Penn was missing seven players due to illness and injury, including three of its top five scorers: Ethan Roberts, Cam Thrower, and Dalton Scantlebury. Despite this, the team hit a season-high 13 three-pointers on 33 attempts for a shooting percentage of nearly 40 percent.
Defensively, Penn recorded ten steals—its highest total against a Division I opponent this season. Sophomore AJ Levine led the effort with seven steals and also scored a career-high 19 points, with most coming after halftime. “Levine also scored a career-high 19 points—14 of them coming after halftime—going 7-9 from the field including 4-6 from three-point land. He also matched a season high with five rebounds and dished out four assists.” Michael Zanoni contributed another strong performance with 23 points for the second consecutive game.
Junior TJ Power added his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and eleven rebounds while providing five assists and one steal. Augustus Gerhart came close to his first collegiate double-double by scoring sixteen points and collecting nine rebounds along with four assists.
Lucas Lueth started in place of injured teammates and finished with six points. For NJIT, David Bolden led scoring with eighteen points; Jordan Rogers had fifteen points and eight rebounds; Sebastian Robinson contributed ten points, five rebounds, and three assists.
The first half featured multiple lead changes before Penn went into halftime ahead by two following an eight-point run capped by Levine’s buzzer-beater. In the second half, after NJIT tied the score early on, Penn responded with consecutive three-pointers from Zanoni, Lueth, and Levine to start their decisive run.
Looking ahead, Penn will begin Ivy League play next week against Princeton at Jadwin Gym.
The Penn College Wildcats men’s basketball team recently concluded its own season in Division III athletics within the United East Conference at Pennsylvania College of Technology (https://pctwildcats.com/sports/mens-basketball). The Wildcats emphasize both athletic competition and academic pursuits as part of their program.
