Kuakumensah, Bears Beat Penn 62-55
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Brown outscored Penn 17-5 in the game’s final five minutes and sophomore forward Cedric Kuakumensah scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Bears to a 62-55 Ivy League win over the Quakers at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Brown improves to 13-9 overall and has sole possession of third place in the Ivy standings with a 5-3 Ivy mark. Penn falls to 6-15, 3-4 in the Ivy League.
The Quakers led by five points, 50-45, with 5:29 remaining when the Bears broke the game open with a 14-1 run. Senior Sean McGonagill’s trey with 3:58 remaining gave Brown the lead for good, 53-51, and freshman Steven Spieth’s two free throws with 56 seconds left gave the Bears a 59-51 advantage. Spieth and McGonagill accounted for six points each in the decisive run.
Kuakumensah’s 18 points were just one short of his career high. He provided a strong inside presence for the Bears, shooting 9-of-13 from the field.
“Cedric was a warrior tonight,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin. “He stepped up to the challenge against a very good post player in Darien Nelson-Henry. I had a talk with Cedric after last night’s game against Princeton and he really responded.”
McGonagill finished the game with 15 points, while Spieth added 12 points, hitting 6-of 6 free throws and 3-of 8 field goals.
The 6-11 Nelson-Henry scored a game high 20 points for the Quakers on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Tony Hicks chipped in with 16 points.
With heavy snow in the Providence area, Penn arrived at the arena 40 minutes before tip-off after walking 25 minutes to the Pizzitola Sports Center when the team bus got stuck in the snow. Despite the ordeal, the Quakers jumped out to an early 19-14 lead with 7:26 left in the opening half on a three-point play by Jamal Lewis.
The Bears bounced back with a 9-0 run to pull ahead by four points, grabbing a 23-19 advantage with 5:10 remaining on a trey by McGonagill.
A late Penn run gave the Quakers a 29-27 lead at intermission.
Brown launches a four game road trip, starting with Columbia on Friday, February 21 in New York City, at 7pm, followed a nationally televised game (NBC Sports) against Cornell on Saturday, February 22 in Ithaca, NY, starting at 8pm.
