Penn left heartbroken after last-second road loss to Columbia

NEW YORK — A Jack Eggleston three-pointer signaled a rare jumpstart for Penn in the first two minutes of Friday night’s game against Columbia.

But equally unexpected was Eggleston’s shaky performance at the line down the stretch.

In his last two trips to the charity stripe, the junior came up empty-handed on two of his three crucial attempts.

His futility at the line was indicative of the Quakers’ slouching second-half performance at Levien Gymnasium. Penn gave the Lions a window, and with 2.7 seconds on the clock, Columbia junior Brian Grimes nailed a desperation shot from just inside the arc to win the game 56-55.

With 33 seconds left and the game knotted at 54 points apiece, Columbia’s John Daniels fouled Eggleston to send the junior forward to the line for a one-and-one free throw.

Eggleston converted the first to bring Penn ahead 55-54. He did not convert the second.

A quick 17 seconds later, Daniels found himself at the line, shooting two. The freshman missed the first. With a second opportunity to tie the game, he missed again.

Eggleston grabbed the board and was quickly fouled by standout sophomore Noruwa Agho. Again, Eggleston went to shoot one-and-one.

It was Casey at the Bat — no, Jack at the Line. Instead of Mudville, this was snowy Harlem. It wasn’t the bottom of the ninth, but the clock read 00:16. There were no runners at second or third base, but just two gimmes to put this game out of reach.

But there was no joy in Harlem — mighty Eggleston struck out.

Just 13.3 seconds later, Grimes found himself with the ball and only half a look at the hoop. That was enough for the Columbia forward, though, as he buried the final shot, giving the Lions a 56-55 lead.

The ensuing inbounds toss to Eggleston and heave at the basket were hopeless.

The final play alluded eerily to last year’s infamous Kevin Egee miracle shot — inbounded by Eggleston — that boosted Penn over Columbia in the final seconds. However, the Quakers (5-20, 4-7 Ivy) did not see the same luck this time around. The Lions (10-16, 4-8) stormed the court, and Grimes walked away the hero.

Despite the poor finish, Allen did seem to find the cure to the slow-starts that have impaired Penn all season: Dan Monckton.

Starting in his second consecutive game, the forward spurred Penn’s offense early. In the first half he racked up six points and three rebounds — two of which led to Zack Rosen trifectas. Penn went into the intermission with a three point lead.

But in the second half Rosen was just 2-for-6, missing all three of his long range attempts.

Replacing Rosen atop the score sheet was Monckton, with 17 points. The junior finished 6-for-11 from the field with two three-pointers and five boards.

But Monckton’s strong scoring could not save the Quakers from numerous turnovers.

“We lost the game in the first half when we had eight turnovers,” Allen said.

Penn’s sloppy passing and lack of urgency remains an issue for the team.

“We want to value every possession or get a defensive rebound, but yet we don’t,” Allen said.

Rosen agreed.

“I thought we had the game,” he said. “It just shows that we gotta lock in every possession.”

On the opposite side of the scorer’s table, senior Niko Scott — who scored 29 at the Palestra two weeks ago — couldn’t find quite the same touch Friday. Though he ended with 12 points, Scott shot just 3-for-8. In the first half, he hit only one jumper for the Lions.

Also in a reversal from the teams’ first meeting, the Quakers could not restrain Agho, who finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting.

The loss marked the first time Columbia has swept Penn since the 1967-68 season.

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