PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University men's basketball team started off its Big 5 season on Wednesday night with a road game against the defending champion Penn at The Palestra. Senior Isiah Deas and freshman Ayinde Hikim came off the bench to score a combined 31 points, but the Explorers dropped a 75-59 decision to the Quakers to fall to 1-1 on the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half saw both teams struggle offensively, with La Salle shooting 34.6 percent from the field and Penn converting just 32.4 percent of its attempts from the floor.
• Rebounding played an important role in allowing the Quakers to take a five-point lead at intermission, as the home team held a 26-18 edge on the boards and pulled down 10 offensive rebounds over the first 20 minutes.
• Trailing by five to start the second stanza, senior Saul Phiri drained a three-pointer on the first La Salle possession to bring the visitors to within a bucket at 27-25.
• The deficit remained the same at the 18:26 mark, following a short jumper by sophomore Jared Kimbrough, before Penn made a game-altering run.
• The Quakers scored the next 17 points of the contest to take a 19-point lead with 13:37 remaining in the second half.
• La Salle made a pair of runs to get closer, thanks in large part to the defensive efforts of Hikim. 
• The Washington, D.C. native scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and his consecutive baskets near the eight-minute mark put the score at 55-44.
• The Explorers continued to fight back and a layup by Deas cut the margin to 62-54 with 4:21 on the clock.
• Penn was able to score the next five points and maintained a double-digit cushion the rest of the way to improve to 2-1 on the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Deas closed with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting while Hikim had 14 points, four steals and three assists.
• Penn finished the game with a 47-30 rebounding advantage, including a 16-3 edge in offensive boards.
• After registering 20 assists in the win over Iona, the Explorers had just five against the Quakers and turned the ball over 16 times.
• AJ Brodeur finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Betley had a game-high 21 points for Penn.

UP NEXT

• La Salle remains in the Big 5 for its next game, a home tilt against Temple (2-0) at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., with the first 250 students entering the building receiving a free Donnie Carr replica jersey t-shirt.