Keith Wright scored a game-high 25 points for Harvard, which squandered a big second-half lead but managed to outlast Penn in a double-overtime thriller, 83-82, in an important Ivy League game on Saturday night at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
With the win, Harvard improves to 16-4 overall and 5-1 in the Ivy League, and the Crimson regain control of their own destiny after Friday night's loss at league-leading Princeton. Penn falls to 9-9 and 3-1.
Kyle Casey contributed 18 points and nine rebounds and came up with a big block of Penn guard Zack Rosen in the closing seconds of second overtime to secure the victory. Oliver McNally scored the game-winner on a driving layup with 11 seconds remaining.
Jack Eggleston led Penn with 23 points and eight rebounds. Rosen scored 19 points, and he sent the game into double overtime with two big buckets in the final seconds of the first OT. First, he nailed a 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left to get the Quakers within a point. After Casey was fouled and hit 1-of-2 from the line, Rosen dropped in a floater at the buzzer to even things at 77.
Harvard led by 11 at the break, 35-24, and had an 18-point lead early in the second half. The lead was nine with 3:34 remaining before Penn went on an 11-2 run to tie it. Tyler Bernardini's 3-pointer with 34 seconds left drew Penn even at 62. With 16.6 seconds left, Casey hit a baseline jumper for a two-point Harvard lead. Six seconds later, Rosen hit two free throws to tie it at 64. Harvard's Laurent Rivard missed a short jumper in the closing seconds. Teammate Christian Webster (17 points) was fouled attempting to tip in the rebound, but after a conference the referees determined the foul came after the buzzer.
Harvard is back home Friday night against Yale.
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/weei/boston/basketball