The La Salle Explorers lead the Penn Quakers at the half, 39-29, from The Palestra.
Penn started the half off ice cold shooting 1-7 while La Salle was 3-6. The Explorers also hit 5-6 from the free throw line to jump out to a 11-2 early lead. After the lead was extended to 12-2, Penn then fought back by hitting shots and forcing turnovers. The lead quickly dwindled to 3 for the Explorers.
La Salle continued to make shots and dominate the boards and extended their lead to 17-11 by the halfway mark of the first half. Penn had trouble making their shots and La Salle kept up their scoring pace. With 7:07 to play, La Salle's lead had ballooned to 25-13.
Penn started to make a game of it again later in the half by cutting into La Salle's rebounding advantage. The Quakers still didn't shoot well but the rebounding helped them get to the free throw line where they were 10-11 in the first half. Just when Penn got the lead down to 31-27 with 2:02 to play, La Salle got six quick points. The Explorers ended the half on an 8-2 run.
La Salle was led by Tyreek Duren with 11 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. Sam Mills had 8 points and Earl Pettis had 7 points. Penn got their scoring mostly from senior guard Zack Rosen and forward Fran Dougherty who both had 8 points. Tyler Bernardini chipped in 5 points for the Quakers.
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