Danley furthered Penn’s cause by sinking a free throw and converting a layup on the subsequent possession.
The Palestra was coming through crisp, loud, and clear on the TV broadcast. The only bliss around the league resided among those who had made the wise choice of turning off the blowout five minutes prior.
Princeton 55, Penn 52. 2:04 to play.
Then, the second shoe dropped.
As Wallace began to pivot at the top of the key with his back to the basket, Begley snuck up behind him and knocked the ball out of his hands. The Penn guard rushed down the other end of the floor. Layup. Book it.
Just 30 seconds later, Wallace took the ball at the left corner of the key, spun baseline, and was tagged with a charging call. That was number five. Hercules was dead.
The Palestra shook upon its very foundation. The rest of the league could not be reached for comment.
Princeton 55, Penn 54. 1:03 from madness.
But the saga hadn’t ended quite yet. Danley missed a jumper that would have put the Quakers ahead for the first time in the game. The Tigers got a stop. Logan went to the line. The CN8 announcers made sure to remind the viewers once again that Princeton was among the top 10 best free-throw shooting teams in the county. Unfazed and unjinxed, Logan nailed the first. The second, however, met with a much less auspicious fate.
Penn rushed down the floor. Osmundson took the ball to the hole and crashed into Stephens, who had to have been as close to set as one can possibly get. Blocking foul. Two shots. Osmundson hit both, of course.
As the Tigers scrambled around on offense, the outcome became clear. Princeton, a team built on cold, precise offensive execution, was flustered and confused. The most crucial possession of the season for a team composed of NCAA tournament-tested veterans ended in a recreational league turnover.
Princeton 56, Penn 56. End of regulation.
The next five minutes were inconsequential. Sure, the Tigers kept it interesting to start the extra frame, but the outcome was no longer in doubt. For 40 minutes it had been Princeton’s game to lose, and it had done an admirable job in doing so.
Now, it was Penn’s game and Penn’s league to win. The Tigers knew it, the fans at The Palestra felt it, and the rest of the league became resigned to it.
Penn 70, Princeton 62. End of season.
—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.