Big 5 anguish on the Main Line

Allen's last-second attempt rattles out Penn gave one of the nation's elite a scare, but it ultimately came up short in its hard-fought upset attempt. A Jerome Allen three-point shot to tie the game in the final seconds sailed off the mark, and No. 9 Villanova held off the resilient Quakers, 76-72, in front of a standing room-only crowd last night at duPont Pavilion. "I try not to second guess myself too much," Allen said. "I thought I had a decent look. The shot went a little long. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way." While the Wildcats (20-6, 1-1 Big 5) led the contest from buzzer to buzzer, Penn hung tough and threatened to take the lead on numerous occasions late in the second half. As is the norm for Big 5 games, the game went down to the wire. Villanova was unable to shake the Quakers, but Penn could not find the spark to get over the hurdle. Due to the play of some unlikely heroes, the Wildcats were able to hold off a furious comeback attempt. "We were very fortunate to hold on for the win," Villanova coach Steve Lappas said. "We're happy to get through our toughest stretch of the year. Penn is a good, smart team. They're capable of doing a lot of damage in the NCAAs." Villanova opened up a big lead early behind the pinpoint shooting of Eric Eberz and solid inside play of Jason Lawson. Eberz exploded for 20 first-half points and led a Wildcats surge in which 'Nova jumped out to a 42-27 advantage late in the first half. Lawson chipped in 15 points on his own during the first stanza. "I got the ball inside a lot, but I wouldn't settle for the turnaround jumper," Lawson said. "I wanted to make sure I got deep in the lane. I was able to jump over them and shoot the ball with success." While Lawson and Eberz were lighting it up, the Penn defense took all-America candidate Kerry Kittles completely out of the offense. Kittles was limited to just five points on 1-of-7 shooting. "That's the lowest point total he's had since freshman year," Lappas said. "They did a great job defending him. Allen was all over him." With Allen starring defensively, Penn stayed in the game on offense with senior Matt Maloney knocking down 4-of-5 three-pointers in the first half to keep Penn in striking range. Although Villanova carved through the Penn defense for 50 points, the Quakers trailed by only nine at the intermission. The second half was a completely different story. Defensively, Penn turned up the heat and made several key adjustments. The Quakers quieted Eberz and took Lawson out of the offense, while holding Kittles scoreless for the half. "We played defense as well as we could have in the second half," Dunphy said. "We adjusted to double down on Lawson and extended the defense on Eberz. I only wish we had made the adjustments sooner." Coming out of the locker room, Penn went on a 12-4 run to tighten the contest to a single point. The spurt was highlighted by a backdoor alley-oop, which saw Maloney lob a perfect pass to Allen for the dunk. The slam cut the Wildcats' lead to 54-53. The momentum seemed to have swung completely to Penn's side when Kittles picked up his fourth foul moments later. Ira Bowman had a chance to put the Quakers ahead, but both of his free throws went astray. "We had a lot of chances to take the lead," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Ira's drive and a foul could have put us in the lead. That may have changed the game. Still, he's been spectacular for us." Inspired by the return of Jonathan Haynes, who played for the first time since January 28, the Villanova bench widened the gap. Held scoreless in the first half, the Wildcats' reserves knocked down 10 key points in the second. With Kittles sidelined with four fouls, Roscoe Harris drained two huge three-pointers and Haynes added one of his own. The run increased the 'Nova lead back to 10 with seven minutes left, but the Quakers were not about to give in. With the game on the line, Allen and Maloney stepped forward. Allen successfully drew fouls several times down the court, and a Maloney trey cut the Wildcats' lead to four with two minutes left. Repeatedly taking the ball to the goal, Allen found himself on the foul line with Penn trailing 75-71 and 30 seconds to play. The senior missed both free throws, but Maloney got his hand on the second miss and tipped it back out to Allen. As two Wildcats charged at Allen, he kicked the ball to Maloney in the corner. Maloney drained his sixth three-pointer of the night over the outstretched arms of Lawson and brought Penn within one again. "I knew he was going to miss the free throw short," Maloney explained. "I got my hand in there and tipped it back out to Jerome. I just spotted up in the corner and he got me the ball. As soon as I pulled the trigger, I knew it was going to be good." But the Wildcats did not stumble in crunch time. Eberz hit both ends of the one-and-one to extend the Villanova lead back to three. With 11 seconds left, Dunphy designed a play that would keep the ball in the hands of his captain. Allen got a good look and pulled up for a shot well beyond the three-point line. The ball careened off the rim. Haynes grabbed the rebound and hit a free throw to seal the Wildcats' victory. "Jerome is the guy whose hands we would like to have the ball in that situation," Dunphy said "We thought he had a good chance of making that shot. We're willing to live and die with the ball in his hands."