College Basketball

Penn Takes Down Saint Joseph’s, Shakes Up Big 5 Pod Play

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David Malandra Jr
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David Malandra Jr Sports Editor

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Published17 Nov 2025

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Philadelphia: There is something special about a big-time college basketball event being held in the Palestra & that is what we saw on Monday Night as the Penn Quakers hosted the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in Big 5 play.

The Hawks came into the game off a loss to Virginia Tech, while Penn entered on a 2-game losing streak.

There was a lot at stake in this game for the Big 5 pod standings. If Saint Joseph’s won, they would head back to the Big 5 Title game. However, if Penn won, it would come down to a battle between Penn and Drexel later in the week to see who would advance to the Big 5 Title game.

The other storyline in the game was the return of Steve Donahue, who was the head of Penn before being removed & who is now the head coach at Saint Joseph’s.

Before the game, Penn would honor Ed Rendell:

Lineup:

Penn

Saint Joseph’s:

How the game went:

In the first couple of minutes, both the Hawks & Quakers would be trading baskets, including this nice pass by the Hawks:

Saint Joseph’s Justice Ajogbor  would have 3 blocks in the 1st half – this one would end up in the first row of seats:

Multiple times in the 1st half, both teams would keep this game very tight. The largest lead in the 1st half belonged to the Hawks at just 6; Penn would have their big lead of 4.

Penn’s Dylan Williams hit a sick move to score at the buzzer to end the 1st half & get things tied at 41:

So, going into the 2nd half, would we see the same amount of good defense & action as we saw in the 1st half?

Later in the 2nd half, the Quakers would hit a big 3 to try pulling away:

Down the stretch of the game, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks would have quality chances to make this game interesting, but they were unable to finish their shot attempts. On the other side, the Penn Quakers were able to get the timely shots.

For the 1st time since 2019, the Penn Quakers would take down the Hawks.

That throws a curveball into Big 5 Pod play.

Postgame:

Penn Coach Fran McCaffrey:

Saint Joseph’s Coach Steve Donahue:

Final Numbers:

What is next:
With the win, Penn will now prepare for battle with the Drexel Dragons on Friday at the DAC.

For Saint Joseph’s, they will now head on the road for a matchup with UNLV on Thursday.