PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team battled into overtime for the second time in as many days, but dropped a 75-68 result to Harvard on Saturday night.
Penn led for a majority of the night, and by six with just over a minute to play in regulation, buoyed by AJ Brodeur's 23 points and Devon Goodman's 22, but a three with 5.3 seconds left from the Crimson's Bryce Aiken leveled the score at 61-61, sending it to overtime. In the extra period, Harvard scored 10 of the first 12 points and managed 14 overall to stun the Quakers.
Notes
*Penn fell to 1-3 in overtime games this season and 3-7 under head coach Steve Donahue.
*Penn played overtime games in both ends of an Ivy League weekend for the first time since February 3-4, 1984 when the Quakers fell in overtime to both Yale (51-47 on Friday) and Brown (67-63 on Saturday).
*The Quakers shot just 41.9 percent from the field and 25 percent from three. They entered the night shooting 52.5 percent from the field in wins and 35.4 percent in losses.
*Harvard outrebounded Penn 44-32, the third-worst difference for the Quakers this season. The Crimson brought down two key offensive boards on the game-tying possession, and 12 in total.
*Junior AJ Brodeur finished with 23 points, the 18th consecutive time in double digits.
*Brodeur ended the weekend with 59 points after going for 36 on Friday vs. Dartmouth; the last player to reach that mark in an Ivy League weekend was Keven McDonald who had 61 at Yale (36) and Brown (25) on February 10-11, 1978.
*Junior Devon Goodman added 22 points, finishing with at least 20 for the third time this season and in double figures for the sixth straight game.
*Senior Antonio Woods scored 10 points, totaling double digits for the third straight game and fourth time in five games. The senior guard tallied 18 rebounds in the Dartmouth-Harvard weekend after eight on Saturday.
*Penn racked up 11 assists to Harvard's four, the 18th time it finished with more than its opponents.
How It Happened
Penn stifled Harvard early and kept the Crimson scoreless for over four minutes to begin the game, but managed just four points themselves, on a three from Devon Goodman, who drew the assignment of Bryce Aiken on the defensive end, and an AJ Brodeur free throw. After the Quakers forced Harvard into missing its first eight shots of the game, Aiken put the Crimson on the board after 4:21.
Michael Wang, who sat out Friday night's game against Dartmouth, scored the next four points, pushing Penn out to an early 8-2 advantage. A Brodeur right-handed score eventually extended the Quaker lead to 10-4 before Aiken answered with a three.
With 9:17 to play in the first half, Harvard drew even for the first time, at 14-14, and then again at 17-17 when Justin Bassey matched Goodman's second three of the half. The Quakers scored the next five points, all coming from Wang, when Max Rothschild whipped a no-look pass to the freshman for a dunk and then he stared down a three from the wing. Bassey kept the Crimson close, though, and eventually gave them their first lead of the game at 25-24 after two more long balls. Harvard took a 28-26 lead into the break when Bassey knocked down his fourth three of the half, coming just after Wang slung a pass to Antonio Woods for a bucket.
Brodeur scored Penn's first four points of the second half and then Goodman propelled the Quakers back in front with a trey from the left wing and then a blistering cut to the basket for a layup to make it 35-33. He worked himself into a passing lane on the next defensive possession and crossed a Harvard defender at midcourt for another lay in.
The Crimson dug in and ripped the lead back at 40-39 after a 7-2 spurt that included Bassey's fifth from beyond the arc. Penn countered almost immediately with two from Brodeur at the line, a nifty set play out of a timeout for a Rothschild dunk and a corner three from Woods to move Penn to a 46-40 advantage.
The Quakers continued to keep the Crimson at arm's length, but nothing more than that. Four Brodeur points made it a seven-point cushion at 54-47 with 6:09 to play, but again Harvard rallied with four straight of its own.
With under two minutes to play and the Penn lead just two, Goodman battled under the basket for a layup and then drew a foul on the next time down the floor to move the Quakers up six. Aiken bounced in a three to halve that lead with 1:01 remaining and then another off two offensive rebounds to tie it at 61-61 and force overtime with 5.3 seconds left.
Harvard scored 10 of the first 12 points in the extra period then Woods stepped back for three to trim the Penn deficit to 71-66 with 1:34 to play. It wasn't enough, though, and Harvard stole the 75-68 victory.
Up Next
Penn is back at home next weekend, hosting Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. Both games are the back ends of doubleheaders with the Penn women. Friday's games will start at 5:30 (women) and 8 p.m. (men), while Saturday's games are scheduled to start at 4:30 (women) and 7 p.m. (men).
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