Quakers self-destruct in heartbreaker

Princeton's Mason Rocca quietly emerged as the hero in the Tigers' miraculous Palestra comeback. No one was prepared for an end result that had not befallen the Penn men's basketball team in its last 11 contests. Even more shocking was the performance of Princeton forward Mason Rocca, the Tigers' unsung hero. But maybe his latest performance should come as no surprise at all. Against Dartmouth, Rocca lit up the scoreboard with a career-high 25 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Those are not bad numbers for someone who previously had gone 4-of-27 from three-point range. And when last night's game appeared bleak for the Tigers, when Princeton seemed to have no business on the court after its horrid first-half display, it was Rocca who stepped up quietly. The junior scored eight points during an 11-2 Princeton run early in the second half. "After five minutes in the second half, I told [the team] 'I don't know if we're going to win this game, but you changed the complexion of the game. You're starting to do stuff, and who knows how it is going to turn out,'" Princeton coach Bill Carmody said. The Tigers' comeback of a lifetime was propelled by Rocca, a player who came into the Palestra with no expectations on how he would match up with Penn forward Paul Romanczuk and center Geoff Owens. "I really did not think about one-on-one matchups," Rocca said. "I haven't played that much against either of them because I was hurt last year and did not play much at all freshman year, so I didn't have good experience against them [from which to prepare]." But Rocca did not need a script. His willingness to create and capitalize on opportunities was enough to propel the rest of the Tiger squad. With Penn up 40-13 and 15:03 left in the contest, Rocca popped a quick three-pointer from the right side. Following another trey by Princeton guard Brian Earl, Rocca gained position on Quaker forward Jed Ryan. Rocca took advantage, hitting a right-handed baby hook and drawing a foul on Ryan as the ball slowly found its way through the basket. "Maybe when the shot I had rolled around the rim forever and finally dropped, it was symbolic that things were starting to go our way," Rocca said. The three-point play was part of that 11-2 Princeton run. After a subsequent TV timeout, Rocca started working on the offensive boards. He rebounded a missed shot over Owens for a put-back before Penn guard Lamar Plummer could get the ball. In the first half, Penn snatched rebounds off most of Princeton's misses. Indeed, the tale of two halves was duly noted in the numbers. The Tigers had eight offensive rebounds in the second half, versus only three in the first half. And Rocca accounted for four of the eight boards. Rocca felt that it just happened -- no technical reason, no magical change of game plan. "Balls started to bounce my way, and I just tried to get in on every single possible rebound," Rocca said. That reason could apply to any one who put up the aforementioned numbers. Rocca must have missed out on the exasperated shouts that came from the Penn faithful as he kept working inside. The Evanston, Ill., native not only finished with four rebounds, but also shot 5-of-9 from the floor to accompany three assists. According to Rocca, he and the rest of the Tiger team remained calm despite going into halftime with the fewest points the Palestra has seen from a visiting player in eons. As a matter of fact, Rocca must have been in a mental zone not to notice the second-half inroads Princeton made on the Quakers' lead. "I don't think I ever looked up at the scoreboard [for a long while]," Rocca said. "When I did, all of a sudden we were only down by one. "When you're down 27 points and you're starting to chip away at [the lead], you know you still have a long way to go." Even after the 3:24 that elapsed after the first scoring run, Princeton was still down by 18. Rocca, however, was the key player during the stretch that began the Tigers' domination and the Quakers' collapse. Ironically, Rocca missed the free throw with 17.7 seconds remaining that gave Penn one last chance. But instead of being the scapegoat, Rocca turned out to be the game's hero -- his second-half play rubbing off to inspire the rest of the Tiger team. And while Rocca came into the Palestra not knowing what to expect and emerged as a key player, he realizes that the next encounter between Penn and Princeton will be no different from last night. "It's going to be a war," Rocca said. "Every game with Penn is a war. While it will be at our place, it will be no different at all."