Quakers self-destruct in heartbreaker

The Penn men's basketball team saw a 29-3 lead in the first half vanish as Princeton rode a remarkable second-half comeback to emerge as the Ivy leader. Ouch. After going on a 29-point run, holding Princeton to three points for the first 15 minutes of the game and heading into the locker room at halftime with a 33-9 advantage, one would think the Penn men's basketball team was in a pretty comfortable position. Think again. The best thing Penn fans can say about last night's game was that they witnessed the Quakers' most dominating first half in recent memory. Unfortunately, Princeton fans can say that they witnessed the most dominating second half. The Tigers (16-4, 7-0 Ivy League) put together an improbable and inexplicable comeback to snatch a 50-49 victory from the hands of the stunned Quakers (14-4, 6-1) last night. The victory puts Princeton in the driver's seat for the Ivy League title -- and an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. All seemed well in the Quakers' world when the crowd started chanting in unison "You've got three points" at the Princeton players with five minutes left in the first half. Little did the Tigers know that when guard Brian Earl sank a three-pointer three minutes into the game to give them a 3-0 lead, they would not score for almost 13 more minutes. In that stretch, Penn dismantled Princeton in every facet of the game, running away to a 29-3 lead. Poor shooting and a lack of execution did the Tigers during the first part of the game. Princeton shot an abysmal 11 percent from the field in the first half, including an 8.3 percent performance on 1-of-12 shooting from behind the three-point line. Even the Tigers' vaunted backdoor offense failed them. Princeton connected on just one backdoor pass in the first half, coming with 4:45 left. Off the pass, Earl missed a short jumper, then fouled Penn guard Michael Jordan. But Penn's glory was fleeting. The Tigers came out in the second half with increased energy and focus. Keyed by a stifling press and 13 points from forward Mason Rocca points, Princeton slowly and methodically closed the gap on the Quakers. The Tigers did a number on Penn's offense with the press, allowing the Quakers just 12 shots from the field in the entire second half. "It wasn't a problem getting the ball inbound," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "But when we would get it over half court, we should have tried to push it, really try to be aggressive with it and I think we got tentative." Princeton also picked it up on the offensive side of the ball, shooting 15 of-31 from the field and making 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Forward Gabe Lewullis sparked a run of Tigers points that brought Princeton to within 12 with 9:59 remaining. He forced a jump ball and made three steals, after which the score stood at 42-30. "I think we just picked up the pressure, especially Gabe," Young said. "Gabe was everywhere." After another Quakers turnover, forward Paul Romanczuk -- playing with a jagged scar on his left eyelid from last Saturday's Harvard game -- picked up his fourth foul reaching in on Rocca. Then, after Rocca put back a Young miss and was fouled by Quakers center Geoff Owens, the Princeton forward made the ensuing free throw, making it a nine-point game. A Tigers steal as the Princeton squad returned back up-court on defense led to a three by Earl, cutting the score to 42-36 with 6:30 left, stunning the Quakers fans and reviving the small minority of Princeton fans in the northeast section of the Palestra. With four minutes left to play, a Jordan turnover led to a Young three-pointer. At 49-46, it was a three-point game. Quakers guard Matt Langel was called for travelling on Penn's next possession. A backdoor layup by Earl brought Princeton to within one. Then Jordan missed a three-pointer and Young -- who was playing with four fouls -- followed with a hook shot at the other end to give Princeton a 50-49 lead with 2:14 remaining. The basket gave the Tigers their first lead since scoring the initial basket of the game. With 45 seconds left, Owens blocked Rocca down low, and then drew a foul on the Princeton forward. But Owens, who hit only 2-of-8 from the charity stripe on the night, failed to connect on either free throw. The Tigers brought the ball back upcourt and called a timeout with 24.8 left on the clock. As Rocca took the inbounds pass and drove to the basket, Langel stepped in front of him, drawing a questionable blocking foul. The foul sent Rocca to the line for a one-and-one with 17.7 seconds on the clock. Romanczuk grabbed Rocca's miss on the first attempt. Jordan brought the ball over the half-court line, where he was met by Princeton's Ahmed El-Nokali. With eight seconds on the clock, Jordan made his move. "I tried to make a move on him, and I was going to pass it to Paul," Jordan said. "But Rocca stepped up and I saw Earl dive so tried to kick it out to Matt." Jordan eventually got off a weak pass to Langel, who put up a baseline jumper that bounced short off the iron. Earl grabbed the rebound as time expired, sealing Princeton's remarkable comeback. As the lights were being turned off at the Palestra almost an hour after the game, a few Quakers faithful were still in attendance amidst a sea of ripped-up newspapers and heartache. With the final tones of the Princeton band echoing in the background, the remaining fans, hunched over, heads in respective hands, sat motionless . They were pondering one of the largest comebacks in Ivy League history.

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