The Road to Seattle Starts at The Palestra

For the Quakers, the entire 1994-95 season will be remembered by what happens during the next 10 seconds. :10 -- The Kingdome scoreboard reads: Arkansas 79, Penn 77. Penn at Syracuse, Nov. 18 "They're awesome baby! The Ivy Leaguers are going to the Garden," yells Dicky V. as Maloney hits yet another trey to seal the Penn win in the second round of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament. Tired of beating each other up in practice and after toying with Canisius at a sold-out Palestra, the Quakers take out their fury on the Orangemen. All-American Lawrence Moten lights it up for 'Cuse, but struggles at the charity stripe in true Orange fashion. Maloney is the poet, scripting trey after trey and notching his 1,000th career point. Boeheim can only rub his bald head in amazement. Penn 78, Syracuse 72. :09 -- Big Corliss Williamson steps to the foul line for the front end of a one-and-one. Penn vs Virginia at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 23 It's the Big Apple and the Big Time. This time it's Clark Kellogg who's broadcasting Penn basketball to the nation. Special K watches in awe as Ira Bowman leaps over Junior Burrough, snags the rebound with his right hand and throws the rock down. Cory Alexander and the rest of the Cavs haven't seen anything like the Quaker juggernaut in the cupcake conference that is the ACC. Penn 77, Virginia 74. The championship game against Alabama is a mere formality, but a significant win indeed. This is only the first of several Penn championships, and conquering the Preseason NIT vaults the Quakers to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll. Penn 59, Alabama 58. :08 -- Trice hauls down the Williamson brick Penn at Michigan, Dec. 13 Vitale is back -- he could not get enough of the Quakers -- and Shawn goes back home to his family. The new Fab Five hasn't seen anything like the whirlwind that is about to take them by storm. Even holdovers Jimmy King and Ray Jackson have blank looks on their faces. Trice is Awesome, with a capital A, dominating down low and swatting Wolverine shots. With the score tied in the closing seconds it is Maloney who literally rises to the occasion. Showing unforeseen leaping ability, the senior soars high enough to throw one down in Ann Arbor. A two-point loss leaves Fisher wondering if even having Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose would have given Michigan a chance. Not a shot, Steve. Penn 90, Michigan 88. :07 -- Trice outlets to Maloney Penn vs. St. John's at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 29 After brushing their teeth with Colgate, Penn runs into the Red Storm. Jerome exposes Felipe Lopez for the diapered fraud that he is and Moore does similarly to big Zendon Hamilton. The Garden is rapidly becoming as familiar as the Palestra to the Quakers, who bring home their second title of the young season. Allen, clearly in the holiday spirit, dishes out 12 assists and takes home the tournament MVP. Penn 88, St. John's 64. :06 -- Matt pushes the ball downcourt Penn at UMass, Jan. 14 Revenge is in the air and so is the governor. UMass is ranked No. 1 in the country after knocking off the Razorbacks early in the year. The Minutemen have never lost in the Mullins Center. All the rocket scientists are back off probation and Mike Williams has lost his cast. Allen sees his summer teammate Lou Roe and rises to the challenge. "Timmy, with the soft kiss!" is all Raftery has to say when Krug's banker completes the upset. National recognition has arrived and Penn cracks the Top 10. Penn 93, UMass 91. :05 -- He feeds it to Bowman on the wing Temple at Penn, Feb. 14 Back to the madhouse on 33rd Street in front of a raucous group of fans, McKie and Jones wish they could return to play a Big 5 game in college basketball's most historic arena. Temple gives the No. 8 Quakers a scare, and William Cunningham steps to the line with the Owls trailing by one and no time left. Finally, the Penn faithful have a legitimate reason to bring out their keys. After Big Willie bricks a pair, the Quakers improve to an even 22-0. Penn 66, Temple 65. :04 -- Ira slices down the lane Penn at Princeton, March 7 The final regular-season and Ivy game for the incredible senior class. Tears are shed in New Jersey over the thought of playing without Allen, Maloney, Moore, Kegler and Trice. But the unsung hero of the bunch steps forward. Kegler steps behind the arch to do his damage and Hielscher falls flat on his face. With Jesse Rosenfeld on "academic leave," and Carril still running those same backdoor cuts, the Tigers are just plain dumb?and bad. Another perfect Ivy season under their belts, the seniors give a knowing smile. Penn 64, Princeton 46. :03 -- He kicks it out to Jerome Eastern Regional at Albany, N.Y., March 15 & 17 It's off to the NCAA tournament with a 30-0 record and a No. 3 seed. (Another insult to the Ivy League once again.) After an opening-round massacre of James Madison (Penn 102, JMU 51), Vanderbilt step onto the court. Jan van Breda Kolff and our old buddy Pax Whitehead take center stage in Knickerbocker Arena. Maloney treats the Commodores like Cornell, and lights up his old team. Jan remembers how tough the Ivy League is as the Quakers step into the Sweet 16 and their glass slippers. Penn 67, Vanderbilt 53. :02 -- Allen steps behind the three-point arch Sweet 16 at the Meadowlands, March 22 & 24 Say good night to Kerry Kittles and the resurgent Villanova Wildcats in Round 2 of the Philly battle. Rollie sits in the stands, counts his under-the-table cash and now realizes why he backed out of the Big 5. Penn 81, Villanova 77. The Gators would have dropped out of the series too if they knew they had to play Penn every year. Proving that last year was a fluke, Allen knocks down the long jumper this time around. Da Meat hook is conspicuous by his ineffective performance and DeClerq loses his head trying to control Moore. Revenge, and how sweet it is. Penn 77, Florida 70. :01 -- Jerome lets the ball fly with Scotty Thurman giving chase. The Final Four at the Kingdome, April 1 & 3 The Final Four: 1979 revisited, but no Magic or Larry. Enough said. Another ACC school trying to compete with the Big Boys of the Ancient Eight. The 'Heels are intimidated from the outset. Back in the Pacific Northwest, Trice explodes again. Dean's boys can't stop Stretch. They can't even hope to contain him. With time running out, a Trice follow-up slam propels the Quakers to the championship game. Rasheed finally realizes he should have never left Philly, as Penn prepares to battle the Arkansas Razorbacks. Penn 87, North Carolina 86. :00 -- The Kingdome falls silent as the ball?