Quakers self-destruct in heartbreaker

Penn failed to score a single point in thelast five minutes of the game as Princeton completed its incredible comeback. With 5:15 left in the game, Penn led Princeton 49-41. The final five minutes and change will forever live in infamy for Penn fans as the Quakers did not score a single point the rest of the way. Penn had survived a 23-2 second-half run that brought the Tigers within six for the first time since it was 8-3 early in the first half. Penn tri-captain Michael Jordan had just converted a three-point play and Matt Langel and Geoff Owens had both made two free throws to extend the lead back to eight. While the game was still far from over, it looked like the Quakers had weathered the worst of the storm. But just when things began to look good again, everything came completely undone for Penn. In an ironic twist, Princeton freshman center Chris Young -- a prized Penn recruit who got away -- suddenly came to life after struggling mightily through most of his first-ever game at the Palestra. With all the talk entering the game surrounding Penn's vast experience, it was one of Princeton's freshmen who made the key plays down the stretch. While Young scored seven points in the last five minutes, the Quakers could only muster two turnovers, three missed field goals and three missed free throws in that time span. Despite Young's 1-for-11 shooting up to that point, he did not hesitate when Princeton co-captain Brian Earl handed him the ball eight feet from the basket. The shot swished and Princeton quickly applied the press that had brought the Tigers back into the game. "I just knew I had to keep shooting," Young said. "I knew that I wasn't going to miss all night. I took those same shots in previous games. If I have an open shot, coach has the confidence that I'll knock it down and so do I." Jordan inbounded the ball and then quickly got it back and rushed up the court. But as he and the rest of the Quakers had done all game, Jordan stopped when he got to the front court and slowed things down. Young broke up his next pass and then quickly passed it to Earl. The Tigers looked to Young again on the offensive end, and he hit his only three of the game to cut the lead to three points. When Penn coach Fran Dunphy was asked to explain what went wrong in the second half, he mentioned Young's trey, which he called "a huge shot." "[Young] didn't play well in the beginning of the second half but then we put him back in there again and he banged a three and he looked different out there," Princeton coach Bill Carmody said. "You could see it in his eyes -- at least I think I did." And then suddenly, just like that, the Tigers' vaunted full-court press stopped. The Tigers broke one of the cardinal rules of sports -- they got back into the game and then stopped doing what had gotten them there. But like everything else Princeton did in the second half, it worked like a charm. Penn's offense had already been so greatly disrupted by the press that the Quakers could not return to their first-half scoring success even when the press was lifted. Langel travelled while making a move to the basket, giving Penn its 12th turnover of the half to Princeton's one. After a media timeout, Earl made a driving layup to cut the lead to one point. Jordan tried to respond with a quick three-pointer, but it was no good and Princeton suddenly had a chance for its first lead since 3-0. Who did the Tigers go to on the next play? None other than Young, who tried yet another hook shot over the taller Owens. But this time, the ball rolled in to give Princeton a 50-49 lead with 2:14 left in the game. And that was how it would stay. Young fouled out on the next play but he had already made an indelible impact on the game. Paul Romanczuk missed the front end of the resulting one-and-one. Earl then missed a three and Owens missed a shot of his own to give Princeton the ball with 1:17 left and a one-point lead. Coming out of a Penn timeout, Owens responded by blocking a shot by Mason Rocca inside, before Rocca fouled him out of frustration. Owens went to the line with 45 seconds left with a chance to put Penn ahead. The first shot clanged off the rim. The second rolled on the rim and then squirted out. Langel fouled Rocca on a drive, and Penn called a timeout to ice the Princeton forward before he went to the line for a one-and-one with 17.7 seconds to play. "We talked about that if [Rocca] misses the foul shot that we'll just get it to Mike and have him make a play. If he was open, he'd shoot it," Dunphy said. Rocca missed, and the Quakers had one last shot. "I saw El-Nokali on me and I figured that he wasn't the best defender in the world," Jordan said. "I tried to make a move on him and I was going to pass it to Paul, but then Mason Rocca stepped up. "Then I saw Earl dive so I tried to kick it out to Matt, which was a horrible pass. Matt got it and recovered. He just pulled up a little short." Earl got the rebound and the Tigers rushed the court as the clock expired. "It had nothing to do with that last shot," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "It would have been nice if it had gone but we just succumbed to the pressure a little bit. Penn lost because its veterans could not come through down the stretch, while Chris Young recovered from a horrible first half to make the shots Princeton needs to secure the victory. Dunphy was right when he said it was not about the last shot. It was about the last five minutes.

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