From a lifelong fan

DP Sports Writer Allison Bart traveled to Boston last night with her dad for the game. As a lifelong Penn hoops fan, here's her perspective.

I've been going to Penn games for as long as I can remember. My dad, C'78 and XPN Penn sports broadcaster back in the day, got season tickets back in the early nineties and we've been going ever since, though now I sit in the student section. I traveled to numerous NCAA games through 2007 and my "why penn?" essay used Penn basketball as an allegory to student life. Needless to say, I am a lifelong fan.

*******

I had almost forgotten what this feels like.

The Quakers’ section was roaring and on their feet. Players had to hold each other back from the excitement and nerves.

5.7 seconds were left in the game.

The ball looked very much to go off Harvard’s Kyle Casey, but the Crimson kept the ball.

Harvard fans were jumping up and down, chanting, “We believe that we will win.”

Casey drove to the basket, looking for the game-winning bucket. The Harvard student section went crazy, but soon becomes silent and stunned. Screams of excitement began roaring from the Penn side. Assistant coach Rudy Wise turned toward the fans with a huge smile. Casey called for the charge into Tyler Bernardini.

3.5 seconds left in the game and a timeout.

Jerome looked the players in the eyes, smiled and began talking to his team. Even the older alumni were on their feet, jumping. Bernardini in visible pain, but ready to finish it – and that is what they did. Zack Rosen, who scored 20 points for the Red and Blue, beamed as he exited the court.

This was the best win in my memory.

Growing up going to Penn games, I have seen some amazing match-ups whether part of 2002’s three-way tie with Princeton and Yale or the many other title-clinchers. But nothing has ever felt like this. This was the ultimate underdog story – and back then, that was rarely the case.

This is just a tremendous victory for the team, the Penn community, and the hopeless freshman fan.

After the past four years, I wasn’t sure that I would ever feel this way again – the utter excitement and pandemonium after a meaningful come-from-behind win.

This Penn team struggled through injuries, exhaustion and fouls to beat the odds.

As Harvard fans bent their heads down into their elbows still in shock, the Penn cheerleaders entered the court as the band began to play. I never felt prouder singing the Red and the Blue.

Tears were streaming from fans’ faces as the song came to a close and the roar of the small yet substantial Penn crowd grew in volume.

This Penn team, especially the seniors, deserved this win. They fought for it and they got it. They were able to come back from a deficit and execute when it mattered most.

The majority of the Penn band, cheerleaders, alumni, students and other fans that made the trek to the game didn’t rush out of the arena. They stayed, cheering on the players and coaching staff as they came down the stairs from the locker room one by one.

Smiles, hugs, high-fives, handshakes and pictures. It looked as though the title had just been won.

Though that is obviously not the case, it meant almost as much.

While the Penn team will soon begin preparing for next weekend’s games against Brown and Yale, they should not let the feeling of this triumph fade.

This team needed this win, and they had the heart and drive to accomplish such a feat.

As each player came down those stairs, smile on face, the cheers grew louder.

I had almost forgotten what this feels like.