AT COURTSIDE: All over in Hanover

Bowman's free throw bounces out HANOVER, N.H. -- Three seconds remained on the Leede Arena clock as Penn senior co-captain Ira Bowman stepped to the foul line for a one-and-one. The capacity crowd rose to its feet in preparation for what would be the deciding shots. Everything was set. It was Bowman versus Dartmouth for the game and the continuation of Penn's 48-game Ivy League winning streak. The Big Green called timeout. A minute later, the teams returned to position. And Dartmouth called timeout again. After what may have been the longest three seconds in Penn basketball history, Bowman took the free throw. And missed. The triumphant capacity crowd stormed the court and trampled The Streak, 54-53. Before the ill-fated free throw, Bowman had been a key contributor in the Quakers' attempt at consecutive Ivy win No. 49. His tenacious defense held the Ivy League's leading scorer, Big Green guard Sea Lonergan, to just 11 points. Bowman finished the contest with 12 points and nine rebounds. "This is a team, and we are a team to the end," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "He's one of our leaders, so we'll support him. He felt badly about [the missed free throw], there's no question about that, and we all felt badly for him. It's over and done with, and let's pick up the pieces and go on." The Quakers followed their coach's instructions to the letter Saturday night against Harvard. After skipping the post-game press conference Friday, Bowman said he preferred to express himself on the court. "I was very upset from the loss," Bowman said after Penn's 77-63 victory over the Crimson. "My teammates really picked me up because I felt really bad. We had to respond ,and we did." Bowman scored the Quakers' first two points of the contest on a leaning layup in the paint. And he did not stop there. The 6-foot-5 swingman exploited the Crimson defense for 29 points. Bowman was also lethal on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds. In a well-rounded effort, he had three steals and dished out four assists. "He just took it upon himself to do a real good job and he did," Dunphy said. "There's times during the game when he needs to do that." After a day of silence, Bowman did his talking in crunch time. Bowman led the Quakers into the second half. He dominated the game after the break, scoring 20 of his game-high 29 points. Following the weekend split, the Quakers are tied with Princeton for the Ivy League lead. However, they still control their own destiny. "We'd be fools to say we didn't want both wins, but we had to take what we could get," Bowman said. "We'll have to accept one."