Penn sneaks past Lehigh

M. Hoops earns win in OT BETHLEHEM -- In a game as ugly as the Quakers' new road shorts, the Penn men's basketball team nearly dropped its third straight game for the first time since any current member joined the team. For the first 36 minutes, an opponent put on a textbook display of how to beat Penn: Take advantage of the Quakers' ice-cold outside shooting by grabbing almost all of the rebounds at the defensive end. Move the ball and find the open man at the offensive end. Add in unconscious shooting and a poor Penn performance from the free-throw line and you have the makings of an upset. Except this wasn't Temple or Michigan, or even Dartmouth. It was Lehigh, a Patriot League opponent that had always been an easy win for the Quakers. Not this time. It took some serious heroics from Jerome Allen at the end of regulation to lead Penn to an 82-79 overtime victory over the energized Engineers. Allen hit two free throws with 48 seconds on the clock to give the Quakers a 71-70 lead before Rashawne Glenn popped a three-pointer from the right side to put Lehigh ahead by one. With only 16 seconds left, Matt Maloney brought the ball up the court and tossed it to Allen. From seven feet out, Allen nailed a jumper with five seconds on the clock. After a Lehigh time out, Glenn brought the ball up the left side before shooting a three over Maloney that bounced off the rim. That was the Engineers' last chance. In overtime, Lehigh continued to hit some amazing shots but could not keep up with Allen and Penn. Allen finished with a remarkable stat line -- 22 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals. "Jerome Allen took the game over on a couple plays at the end," Lehigh coach Dave Duke said. "There's no doubt he's a great player." The death knell sounded for the Engineers when, with 1:40 left in overtime, Maloney gathered a long rebound and pushed the ball up court. The Quakers executed a perfect three-on-two break from Maloney to Allen, back to Maloney, and finally to the trailing Tim Krug for a two-handed slam that even brought Mayor Ed Rendell to his feet. "We work on three-on-two breaks a lot in practice," Krug said. "That one was picture perfect. It really takes a lot out of a team." But earlier in the game, it appeared as if Lehigh would be the team celebrating. Jumping out to a 36-29 halftime lead, the Engineers did very little wrong in humbling the Quakers, but they got a little help from Penn. Allen, Maloney and Scott Kegler were a combined 0 for 12 from three-point range in the first half. Lehigh grabbed 21 defensive boards to paralyze the Penn offense. Only Eric Moore had more than four first-half points, with 11. Maloney's best look at the basket from three-point range was an alley-oop to Allen. Maloney didn't hit a three until eight minutes had gone by in the second half. "We took decent shots," Allen said. "They just weren't dropping. We knew it wouldn't make or break the game." At the offensive end, Lehigh did a remarkable job of finding the open man under the basket. When no one was open, the Engineers were hitting everything, including Ivan Wilkins' sliding jumper from six feet to open the second half. Often, the guy hitting the shot -- open or not -- was Alan Campbell, who had 11 first-half points on 3-for-4 three-point shooting. He finished with 20 points even after being shut out for the final eight minutes. Glenn led Lehigh with 24 points. Penn opened the second half going to what had worked in the first -- Eric Moore. Moore, who finished with 18 points, scored the first six points of the second half despite missing a pair of free throws. But with only Moore on offense, and Lehigh continuing to hit nearly every shot, the Engineers extended their lead to 13 before Ira Bowman hit the first free throw of the second half with just over 13 minutes to play. Before that, the Quakers had missed their first five attempts from the charity stripe in the second half while shooting at the active Lehigh student section. "That's the biggest crowd emotionally since I've been here," Lehigh's Diallo Daniels said. "How many foul shots did they miss? Like 10? Those were all crowd foul shots." Penn cut the lead to four with less than 10 minutes left in the second half behind three big blocks, a putback and a clutch three-pointer from Krug. The Quakers finally tied it on a Maloney three from the left corner with 4:21 to play. After being down by as many as 15 in the second half, Penn had evened the contest. Moments later, Kegler hit his first three of the game. An Allen miss from long range, combined with a jumper by Kem Widmer and a three by Campbell, brought the Lehigh lead to four. Kegler hit a three moments later and made one of two bonus free throws to tie the game at 69 with just two minutes to play. After Shawn Trice blocked Kirk Hodgson's shot, Maloney drove the lane and was fouled by Ivan Wilkins. After missing both free throws, he went over the back of Glenn to send him to the line with a chance to retake the lead with 1:22 to play. Glenn made one to put Lehigh up 70-69. Allen's two free throws then put Penn ahead and set up the climactic final. It was a true test of character for a team that can expect many such tests from teams with more talent than Lehigh. If all of Penn's opponents play with as much heart and intensity as Lehigh, it could be a long season. "We had to fight through adversity," Allen said, "whatever it may be. Character is made through adversity and it really brought out the best in us. From this point on, I hope all our opponents bring out the best in us."