Gamecenter: Columbia 67, Penn 69

Posted on by Jake Wilson in Columbia, Gamecenter, Ivy League, Penn
1st 2nd Final
Columbia (14-15, 7-7 Ivy) 32 35 67
Penn (12-18, 7-6 Ivy) 33 36 69
The Palestra – Philadelphia, PA Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Columbia held a 60-54 lead with under five minutes to play until Tyler Bernardini drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws to trim Penn’s deficit to four. The Lions couldn’t beat the shot clock and turned it back over to the Quakers, and Brian Grandieri made it a two-point game with a banked-in floater. Andreas Schreiber then came up with a steal, but turned it right back over to Columbia, and Niko Scott’s jumper made it 62-58 with 3:22 to play. Schreiber then sandwiched two perfect trips to the line around a missed Mack Montgomery three-pointer to knot the game at 62 at the 2:44 mark. Following a Montgomery foul at the offensive end, Schreiber then executed a nice post move to finish off a 10-2 run that put Penn in front 64-62 with just over two minutes remaining.
Key sign it was over The Lions equalized with two John Baumann free throws at the 1:37 mark, only for Bernardini to put the Quakers back in front with a free throw on the next possession. Scott then drove in for a bucket to switch the lead back to Columbia, however, Grandieri’s putback put Penn back on top with 30 ticks left. Following a timeout, Scott drew a foul and had a chance to give his team the lead at the line, but missed the first free throw before sinking the second to tie with 16 seconds to play. Out of a 30-second timeout, Bernardini put up a tough jumper that came up way short, but the rebound kicked back to the freshman on the left baseline, and he coolly drained what turned out to be the winning basket with 0.6 seconds left, as Columbia couldn’t get off a shot.
Key performance Kevin Egee kept Penn in the game with 16 important points, primarily on the strength of a perfect 4-for-4 night from three-point range. The junior guard also added five rebounds and two steals in just 22 minutes off the bench.
Key statistic Columbia actually outscored Penn from the field, but it was the Quakers’ edge at the free throw line that made the difference. Penn was 19 of 25 (76.0 percent) at the stripe, compared to 14 of 19 (73.7 percent) for the Lions.
 
Notes

– Senior Ben Nwachukwu went out in impressive fashion, scoring a game-high 23 points, while Baumann added 17 in his final game in a Columbia uniform.

– In addition to Egee, Penn had three other double-digit scorers: Bernardini (15 points), Grandieri (11 points), and Schreiber (10 points).

– Both teams made judicious-but-effective use of the three-point line, with the Lions finishing 5 of 13 (38.5 percent) from long range, and the Quakers going 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) on threes.

– Columbia was outscored 36-35 in the second half despite shooting 13 of 20 (65.0 percent) from the field after halftime.

– Glen Miller started seniors Joe Gill, Michael Kach, and Grandieri on Senior Night.

– The Lions finish the season 7-7 in the league and clinched at least a tie for fourth place, while the Quakers can finish alone in third and with a winning mark with a win in their season finale at Princeton on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:00 pm ET.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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