Penn got 18 points from Matt Howard and four of its starters reached double figures as the Quakers pulled off a 58-51 upset of the Dartmouth Big Green on Friday in the Palestra in Philadelphia.
Dartmouth entered the contest knowing a win would keep them in the race for the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in March. With one conference victory already in its pocket, the Big Green could have moved into a tie for second place had they been able to knock off a Penn team that had garnered only five wins all season, none in League play.
However, Penn led the game essentially from tip to buzzer and held a lead as big as 12 points in the second half before holding on to win.
The game started out in an ugly fashion, as neither team got on the scoreboard until Dartmouth’s Miles Wright made a free throw more than 3 minutes into the contest. The Big Green took a 9-6 lead midway through the first half, but that would prove to be the last time they would be in control of the game.
Penn relied on the home crowd to help prevail and avoid what would have been a devastating 0-2 Ivy League start.
Gabas Maldunas, a 6-9 Senior from Lithuania, led the Big Green with 14 points on a night that would not see Dartmouth get going offensively.
Now at 1-2, Dartmouth will travel to New Jersey on Saturday for a tilt with Princeton while Penn hosts Harvard.