Last season, Rider erased a late second-half deficit at home against Penn, eventually sending the game to overtime and prevailing, 77-72.
Last night, the venue was different and some of the faces had changed, but the result was very much the same.
After taking a 50-45 lead with 7:38 to go in regulation, the Quakers only scored two more field goals and none in the last 4:30. Rider tied the game on a late three-pointer by Paul Johnson, and won the game in overtime, 74-68.
The loss was the fifth in a row for the Quakers (4-7) and their first at home. Penn had been 4-0 at the Palestra.
Senior forward Jan Fikiel led the way for the Quakers with his career-high 21-point effort on 9-for-13 shooting, which included two three-pointers on four attempts.
Senior captain Tim Begley added 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. But, unfortunately for the Quakers, the memories of this game will be the aspects which they failed to control.
"We turned it over 20 times, which we can't do," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "And we gave up a couple of critical offensive rebounds, and then we did a couple of foolish things defensively."
But eventually -- in a close game where during regulation neither team had a lead bigger than five -- it was Penn's inability to win the battle at the free-throw line that sealed its demise.
The Quakers actually scored three more field goals than Rider (8-5) did. However, the Broncs went 24-for-30 from the line, including 18-for-22 after halftime. Penn only got to the line 16 times in the whole contest, converting 11 shots.
Guard Jerry Johnson highlighted a 23-point performance with 8-for-9 shooting from the line, all in the second half and overtime.
After Paul Johnson's three-pointer tied the game at 62 with 1:30 to go in regulation, Penn had a chance to win it on its last possession.
Edwin Muniz missed a contested layup and Fikiel grabbed the rebound. Rather than calling their final timeout, Begley dribbled the ball up the court and held on for one last shot. Penn's senior guard drove the ball to the hoop, but was cut off and forced to take a difficult turn-around jump shot that clanked off the rim.
After the game, Dunphy explained his reasoning behind not calling a timeout.
"When you call timeout, really what happens is you give the defense a chance to set up," Dunphy said. "I just trusted in our guys that we'll get a decent look at the basket."
The Quakers took the lead on a Fikiel three-pointer on the first possession of overtime, but only got one more basket -- a three by Ibby Jaaber -- for the rest of the period. Jerry Johnson stepped up for Rider in the overtime, scoring eight of the Broncs' 12 points, including their last five.
The bright spot for the Quakers, in addition to Begley's flirtation with a triple-double, was the offensive emergence of Jan Fikiel, who came off the bench last night for newly-named starter Mark Zoller.
Fikiel lit up the Broncs with a flurry of long-range twos, which have become his specialty.
While he shattered his previous career high of 13 points, Fikiel does not believe that his coming off the bench increased his productivity.
"I don't think it was anything different than any other game," Fikiel said. "I just got some good looks and hit some shots."
Saturday, Penn will have to go back on the road, which has not been kind this season.
The Quakers will try get their first road win in their seventh try when they travel to Albany, N.Y. to face Siena.
