PHILADELPHIA (AP) Tim Begley sank eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 29 points to lead Penn to a 78-67 win over La Salle on Saturday.
Ibrahim Jaaber added 13 points and Mark Zoller had 11 for the Quakers (4-2), who won their third straight game.
Begley was ninth in the nation in 3-point shooting last season and was making them a 48 percent clip this year. Left open against La Salle's zone, Begley went 8-for-13 on 3s and made six of them in the second half. He also had seven assists.
Steven Smith scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half for the Explorers (1-3) and Jermaine Thomas added 15.
Smith and Begley seemed to have their own game of one-on-one going in the second half.
Smith opened the half with a 3, then Begley sank one. Smith added a layup, then converted a three-point play, cutting Penn's lead to 42-40.
Begley, though, answered with consecutive 3s to push the lead back to eight, but Smith followed with a basket to make it 48-42.
Smith wasn't finished, hitting a little hook in the paint and a 3-pointer to pull La Salle within one.
Begley hit four more 3s, falling down as he fired one up as the shot clock expired late in the second half then hit one on the run from the left side on the next possession for a 70-57 lead.
The game was the first in a tripleheader, the Big Five Classic, held at the Palestra. All Division I schools in the Philadelphia area played, with Villanova playing Temple and Saint Joseph's playing Drexel in the nightcap.
It was the first game against La Salle for Penn coach Fran Dunphy since turning down an offer to return to his alma mater after Billy Hahn resigned amid rape allegations against three former players.
Many of Penn's fans used the game as an opportunity to taunt La Salle, unfurling banners that read "Hide The Women and Children," "400K Not Enough for Dunphy or Bail," and chanting "No Means No!"
One fan dressed in an orange jumpsuit and another sign said one of the former players charged would be a first-round pick in the Pennsylvania penal league.
