M. Hoops | Buzzer-beating shot nudges Quakers past Columbia

NEW YORK, Saturday, March 7- The Quakers had never even seen this play before, let alone practiced it. But trailing by two with 1.9 seconds remaining, Glen Miller and his coaching staff whipped out a dry-erase clipboard and crafted a setup to down Columbia.

And, as Miller said later, "the way they executed was pretty darn good."

Senior Kevin Egee launched a long buzzer-beating three to give Penn an improbable 51-50 win at Levien Gymnasium last Saturday night. The Quakers finally had something to cheer about, and they were able to storm the court, too, in what was undoubtedly the most euphoric moment of their season.

"I didn't even know what to do," said Egee, who finished with a game-high 15 points. "You can't script that out. You never think, you hit the game-winning shot, what are you going to do afterwards? So I just started running. I just ran to this wall, until I couldn't run anymore. I started hitting the wall, and then I just got swarmed. It was an awesome feeling, man. It was surreal."

Jack Eggleston had the unenviable task of making the inbounds pass from Penn's side of midcourt, knowing that with a deflected or slightly errant toss, time would likely expire.

The rest of the Quakers (10-17, 6-7 Ivy) clustered in and around the key. As planned, point guard Zack Rosen began the misdirection, drawing 7-footer Zack Crimmins and other Lions toward the near side.

Brennan Votel and Rob Belcore set screens, giving Eggleston a clear lane to zip the ball to Egee, all the way cross-court on the far side. Egee set, released the 35-foot jumper and as the clock struck zero, hit nothing but net.

"When it left my hands, I just knew it was going down," Egee said.

Once the shot fell, the celebration - and foot race - was on.

"It's just crazy - I'm going nuts, I'm trying to run down Kevin," Eggleston said. "I see him sprinting away. And if he didn't run out of room, nobody would've caught him."

Eggleston finished with 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. The original box score did not include an assist on that final play - "talk to someone about that," the forward joked - but the helper was, in fact, added later.

Rosen played well, nailing four free throws in the final two minutes to reach the double-digit point mark for the third straight game. He also chipped in four assists, although Belcore led all players with six in a game marred by fouls, traveling calls and loose-ball scrums aplenty. Kevin Bulger paced Columbia with 10 points.

For Egee, the moment was extra special. Not only did he make the decisive shot in his penultimate collegiate game, but he did so in front of many family members, including his brother Steve, a freshman guard on Columbia's team.

It was the second and final time the siblings lined up against each other; the Lions picked up a 74-63 victory at the Palestra last month.

"I couldn't let him get two up on me," the elder Egee said. "That would be bragging rights for a lifetime right there."

The siblings exchanged plenty of hugs after the game, but Steve was noticeably dejected and expected an earful from his brother.

"I'm sure he'll remind me about the shot," he said, "but I'm gonna try to forget about it."

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