PHILADELPHIA - Fourteen consecutive points to close the first half helped Penn pull away from the La Salle University men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center. The Quakers would go on to earn a 83-65 win over the Explorers in a Philadelphia Big 5 contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A three-pointer from junior Traci Carter gave the Explorers a 5-4 lead, before six straight from the Quakers pushed the visitors on top just over five minutes in.
• Penn continued to lead by a small margin, and a layup from freshman Michael Wang put the score at 21-15 at the 8:23 mark.
• Consecutive layups from sophomore Miles Brookins and classmate David Beatty brought the Explorers to within 25-21 with 4:56 to go in the period.
• Quaker center AJ Brodeur threw down a dunk and ignited the game-altering 14-0 run to finish out the stanza and give Penn a 39-21 lead at intermission.
• The lead grew to as many as 28 points before a spurt by La Salle midway through the period cut the margin to 65-49 with 7:28 left.
• Sophomore Jamir Moultrie scored five straight points over that stretch and Beatty added a three-point play.
• In the end, it was Penn that prevailed thanks in large part to a 57.4 percent field goal percentage.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• La Salle was led in scoring by Beatty, who dropped in 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
• The Explorers committed 21 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Quakers.
• Wang closed with a team-high 18 points in just 15 minutes, while adding three assists.
• For the second consecutive game, La Salle pilfered double-digit steals, closing with 11. Carter had three to lead seven different individuals who tallied one.

UP NEXT

• La Salle will have a 13-day break before returning to action on Friday, Dec. 21 at the Battle of the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.
• The Explorers will face Alabama A&M on the first day of the event, before facing either Towson or Tulane the following day.