PHILADELPHIA _ Villanova began its 25-game Big 5 winning streak by defeating Penn on Dec. 5, 2012. On Tuesday night, the Quakers finally snapped it.
Penn got 16 points apiece from A.J. Brodeur and Antonio Woods and used a significant rebounding advantage to upset the 17th-ranked Wildcats, 78-75, before a raucous crowd at the Palestra.
The Quakers' victory denied Villanova a chance at its sixth consecutive City Series championship, and broke a 15-game losing streak to the Wildcats. Penn posted its first win over Villanova since Dec. 10, 2002.
Villanova's Collin Gillespie led all scorers with 21 points and teammate Phil Booth added 15. The Quakers held a 35-22 rebounding advantage and their bench outscored the Wildcats, 25-11, led by 14 points from Michael Wang.
Penn (9-2, 2-0 Big 5) held a 60-51 lead with just under 8 minutes remaining and was still up by eight, 63-55, on a pair of free throws by Wang with 5 minutes, 47 seconds to play. But a 7-2 run by Villanova (8-3, 3-1) narrowed the deficit to 65-62 when Jermaine Samuels went in for a dunk with 4:28 left.
The Wildcats pulled within 70-67 on two free throws by Saddiq Bey with 1:32 remaining. But Gillespie and Bey missed 3-point shots on the next two 'Nova possessions and Penn countered with a free throw by A.J. Brodeur and two by Jake Silpe to take a 73-67 lead with 31.2 seconds to play.
The margin remained at six before Booth drained a 30-footer to make it 75-72 with 16.2 seconds to play. Wang and Devon Goodman combined for three free throws to get the lead back to six before Booth hit another 3 with 1.3 seconds to play.
The Wildcats took possession after an errant inbounds pass by Penn, but Booth's well-guarded 3-point try from the corner did not find the mark, and Penn students flooded the court in celebration.
The Quakers led by as many as 12 points in the first half and took a 32-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. They didn't let up in the second half, rebuilding their margin to 10 in the opening four minutes. Villanova battled back and cut the deficit to three, 53-50, with 9:56 to play on a pair of free throws by Gillespie, the last two of six straight points he scored for the Cats.
Penn then outscored Villanova, 7-1, getting a pair of layups by Bryce Washington and Jake Silpe off passes from center Max Rothschild, and led 60-51 with 7:55 remaining.
Both teams shot 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) in the first half, with the Quakers taking a 32-28 lead over the Wildcats, whose leading scorer, Booth, did not have a point.
The Quakers came out of the gate quickly, rolling to a 14-2 lead in the opening 7:32. They hit five of their first eight shots and limited Villanova to 1-of-7 shooting while forcing five turnovers.
The Wildcats turned the tables in the next 3{ minutes with a run of 15 consecutive points, led by five apiece from Gillespie and Eric Paschall. A scoop shot by Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree ended the spurt and gave Villanova a 17-14 lead with 8{ minutes remaining.
The Quakers answered with seven points in a row, capped by a 3-point basket from freshman Wang that gave them a 21-17 lead with 6:32 left in the period. They extended the run to 12-2 and a tip-in by Wang put them ahead 26-19 with 4:47 remaining.
Villanova cut into the deficit with the help of three consecutive baskets in the lane by Joe Cremo, the last one making it a 30-28 Penn lead with 2:34 left to play. But the Wildcats missed their final four shots and Antonio Woods' left-handed reverse layup gave the Quakers a four-point halftime lead.
