Take that!

Although he served as the opposition in the Palestra for the first time in his coaching career, Fran Dunphy couldn't help but smile as he took his seat on the visitor's bench.

"It felt great, absolutely great," Dunphy said of his first time coaching against his former team.

The result did not feel so great. The Quakers were down by as many as 19 points in what did not initially have the feel of a Big 5 contest. But the last six minutes transformed the game into a Philadelphia classic as a trio of Mark Zoller free throws lifted Penn over Temple, 76-74.

Zoller's opportunity came when he was fouled from behind the arc with just 1.4 seconds to play.

As the senior stepped up to the stripe with the Quakers (11-6, 2-1 Big 5) down by one, the pressure was on - and Zoller knew it.

"To be honest I've never been more nervous in my entire life," he said. "My knees were shaking."

But the veteran did what everyone knew he was capable of, netting all three free throws to put Penn up by two.

Temple guard Dionte Christmas tried to get a half-court shot off as time expired, but it was too late. Penn had beaten Temple (7-11, 0-3 Big 5) for the first time in four years.

After a slow first half for the Quakers that ended with a 14-2 Owls run, Penn ignited in the second with back-to-back fast breaks led by Ibrahim Jaaber.

"It just seemed like we played [much] better

defense in the second half," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "Our offensive execution was there, the guys made some big plays. It was a great win, a terrific college basketball game."

A Jaaber trey four and a half minutes into the second frame knotted the score at 46 apiece, but Temple wouldn't relinquish its stranglehold so easily. Christmas responded with a quick two to put the Owls back on top.

A pair of Zoller free throws tied the score again at 66 with three and a half minutes left.

Temple's chance to regain the lead was thwarted by a foul and a turnover by Owls guard Mark Tyndale, giving Penn the opportunity to take the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the contest.

And that's just what Zoller did, as he elevated with a lay-up that put Penn ahead, 68-66.

But Temple wasn't finished yet and the remaining minutes saw the lead change several times.

As time wound down, and the Quakers ran out of timeouts, Miller's game plan was simple.

"We said, 'Look, we're going to get a stop, but if they score we don't have any timeouts,' " he explained. "'We have to get the ball inbounds quick and just jam it down their throats.'"

In the end it was Zoller's three free throws after a Dion Dacon foul that finally silenced the Temple crowd.

In a strange role reversal, it was actually senior captain Stephen Danley that suggested to Miller the optimal set-up for Zoller's final shots.

"Actually I told them I want four guys off the line, I wanted Mark on the line by himself," Miller said. Danley "came over and said, 'Hey coach, we want to put two guys on the line because he's more comfortable with guys on the line. So for the first two free throws we want to be in there, and then we'll get off for the last one.'"

"So much for coaching, they told me what they were going to do there," Miller joked.

The Owls shot 51.9 percent from the field on the night, with impressive performances from Christmas and Tyndale.

The duo combined for over 70 percent of Temple's points, as Christmas dropped a career-high 34.

"That's real frustrating to have a good shooting game and still go home with a loss," Christmas said. "I'm mad, but I can't get too mad because I know my teammates gave it their all."

But no matter how frustrating the loss was for Temple, even a disappointed Dunphy had to admit: "It was one hell of a contest."

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