M. Hoops | Shocking comeback loses its legs in OT

Down 37-24 to Drexel by halftime, every Penn fan's fears about the upcoming season were starting to be realized.

The Quakers were not only shooting a dreadful 31 percent from the floor, but allowing Drexel to drain wide open three after wide open three, six in all, on the other end.

The Quakers were down, but not out. After watching the lead balloon to 17 points, the home side started a slow, persistent comeback that took every second of the second half. A Jack Eggleston layup on an offensive rebound with 1.6 seconds to go capped a last-ditch comeback and knotted it at 52 - the first tie of the game - forcing overtime.

But the Dragons' offense woke up, scoring 15 points in the five-minute extra session to seal Penn's first loss of the season, 67-59.

"There were a lot of defensive breakdowns in our coverage in the first half," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "We adjusted in the second half to play much better defense, [getting] stop after stop after stop."

But in the overtime, Drexel held onto the ball and knocked down its shots. In the second half, the Dragons went 6-for-18 from the field and 1-for-7 from the line, compared to a 5-for-7 and 3-for-4 effort in OT.

"We had some decent looks, [but] when you start missing, guys start thinking about it a little bit and that's what we did in the second half," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. "We just played with more poise in overtime."

But the sequence of events that gave Penn that extra five minutes was nothing short of remarkable.

His team up only one with a minute to go, Drexel freshman Gerald Colds nailed his fourth three-pointer of the night, seemingly inserting the nail into Penn's coffin with 34 ticks to go. But after a Brian Grandieri free throw and a miss from Drexel's Scott Rodgers, the Quakers had a chance to tie the game up.

Kach's was fouled on an offensive rebound, and his first shot struck nylon and cut the lead to two. On instruction from Miller to miss on purpose, Kach's second shot went in-and-out, and Grandieri got the offensive rebound. Grandieri put up a reverse layup that was too strong, but the freshman Eggleston was waiting for it on the opposite side, and he put it away to tie it at 52.

That final play was a microcosm of the Quakers' offense. They had 20 offensive rebounds, and yet went 6 for 27 from three and shot 31 percent from the floor for the game.

In addition, they shot 11 of 22 from the line.

"I have to put something on my shoulders, here, 7 for 12 [from the line] just isn't acceptable," Grandieri said after the game. "I guarantee I'll shoot a bunch tomorrow, I'll shoot a bunch on Sunday and I'll shoot a bunch on Monday."

"We had open looks, and in our offense if coach can get us open threes and get us to the line, it's not coaching, guys have to step up. . A lot goes on us players, and it will change, I can guarantee that."

But besides the sputtering offense, there were a few positives to take from the loss.

Eggleston, in his first career game, played 33 minutes, scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds and helping the Quakers slow down Drexel big man Frank Elegar.

In addition, the Penn defense in the second half was stifling, holding Drexel to only one field goal in a nine-minute stretch starting when the Dragons took their 17-point lead.

One of the low points of the game - starting point guard Darren Smith was forced to leave the game early with a knee injury (ruptured bursar) - would come back to hurt Penn again on Sunday.

But there's still plenty to take away from the loss.

"The comeback was good, I guess it's encouraging," Grandieri said. "But just close isn't going to do it."

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