I was stumped. It was early in the second half of the Penn-Manhattan championship game of the Dreyfus Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden and an all-tournament team ballot was sitting in front of me.
At the time it looked as if Penn was going to roll to an easy win, and I was being asked to select the tournament MVP.
Like a Wharton student on a Finance exam, I began peeking at what other people were writing. Not only would the winner receive credit and praise for a job well done, but his name would be added to an impressive list of Holiday Festival MVPs -- Bill Russell (1955), Oscar Robertson (1959), Bill Bradley (1964), Lew Alcindor (1968) and Chris Mullin (1981 and 1984).
Some writers had Jeff Schiffner, the eventual winner.
Schiffner's performance in Penn's first game of the tourney -- a Dec. 28 double-overtime thriller against St. John's -- was surely of MVP caliber.
The senior guard hit a runner from the foul line with .8 seconds on the clock to secure a Penn win.
Schiffner had 17 points and four rebounds in the game, but his stats were far from perfect. He shot just 6-for-21 from the field, and made just four of 13 attempts from behind the arc.
Against Manhattan, Schiffner struggled, as the Jaspers refused to let the guard get an open look.
The senior made only one field goal on 12 attempts, missing all six of his three-point attempts.
"Looking down at my line tonight I really wouldn't know to describe it," Schiffner said after the Manhattan game. "But it doesn't look MVP-like to me."
I selected Tim Begley, who had the best two-day performance for the Quakers.
In the St. John's game, Begley had 16 points and seven boards, though he too was plagued by poor shooting. The junior shot 14 of his 15 shots from beyond the three-point line, making just four.
After missing a potential game-winning three at the end of regulation against St. John's, Begley redeemed himself with an eventual game-winner against Manhattan in the championship game, using his body and size on a broken play to push toward the basket for a jumper.
"I had all my friends calling me last night telling me that I was a bum for missing the game winner at the end of regulation," Begley said after securing the tournament win for the Quakers.
With 13 points against the Jaspers, Begley was the only Penn player to score double digits in both games.
But the more I think about it, I probably should have gone with Mark Zoller as the MVP.
Sure, the freshman scored no points in his 14 minutes against St. John's, but no player was more valuable to the Quakers against Manhattan than Zoller.
With Zoller -- who took over Jan Fikiel's starting job over the break -- off the court in the second half, Penn scored zero points to Manhattan's 17. With Zoller in the game during the second half, the Quakers outscored the Jaspers 21-15.
For the entire game, Manhattan outscored Penn 19-5 with Zoller out, while Penn outscored its opponent, 42-30, with Zoller on the floor.
The 6-foot-6 forward -- though I don't know whether that number includes his massive fro -- had 12 points and eight rebounds.
But it was the little things that Zoller did during the game that made him so valuable, like the time he dove for a loose ball on one end of the court and then hustled back to grab a defensive rebound on the other end.
With 27 seconds remaining in the game, Zoller made another headsy play. While tripping after grabbing a missed Luis Flores jumper, he kept his dribble while resting on his knees.
"There's a reason why he's starting," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "He adds energy and toughness to our group. He made some great plays, got crucial rebounds ... he blocked a few shots. He's as tough a player as we have, and he showed that."
With the Ivy season just weeks away, it's comforting to know that if Schiffner or other starters can't get the ball in the hoop, the Quakers can still win.
Perhaps this lack of a definite MVP is Penn's most valuable asset.
