Second half dooms Quakers

The Penn men's basketball team appeared to be a bit tired from finals on Dec. 22.

After jumping out to a 15 point edge midway through the first half, the Quakers faltered and fell to Davidson in overtime, 75-71.

Early in the contest, the Quakers seemed in total control of the visiting Wildcats. After trailing early, 4-3, Penn scored 13 straight points and dominated on both ends of the court.

Penn went cold towards the end of the first half and the lead was cut to 9 before the Quakers took a 32-20 halftime edge.

But Davidson would turn things around totally in the second half.

"I think we got complacent," Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe said. "I guess we figured we had it, and they gained confidence and were able to put themselves in a position to make a game of it."

After Davidson clawed its way to a tie at 61, the Quakers scored four straight points to put them in position to win. After a three by Davidson's Michael Bree, Koko Archibong was fouled with 2.4 seconds remaining.

But he only converted one of two free throws, leading to the controversial play at the end of regulation.

Davidson's Emeka Erege received a cross court pass and threw up a desperation three, while being closely guarded by Onyekwe.

The referee called a foul on Onyekwe with no time left on the clock, leaving Erege with three foul shots and a chance to win the game. After hitting the first two, his third shot clanked off the right side of the rim, sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime, an Archibong dunk gave the Quakers the early lead, but the Wildcats again struck back, and Erege -- scoring on a layup following his own three-point miss -- gave Davidson a lead it would not relinquish.

Davidson's Wayne Bernard dropped two free throws with 0.6 seconds left to seal the Wildcats' victory.

"I'm absolutely thrilled with this victory," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "I think Penn was rusty and that may have had something to do with it. But I think we responded the way a team that wants to be successful responds."

The Wildcats shot 51.5 percent in the second half, and hoisted 12 more shots than the Quakers, who shot 45 percent.

"We didn't put them away when we had a chance to put them away," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "We let them back in the game, and that hurt us. We made some foolish decisions with the basketball, and we lost our poise a few times. That's the formula for defeat."

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