Penn stuns Harvard, 55-54

BOSTON - The amazing senior season for Penn's Zack Rosen got a little better on Saturday night, and so did the Quakers' chances of winning the Ivy League title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Rosen sank two free throws with 23.2 seconds remaining to give Penn a 55-54 victory over Harvard before a crowd of 2,195 at Lavietes Pavilion.

The Quakers (17-11, 9-2 Ivy) moved to within a half-game of the Crimson (24-4, 10-2) in the league standings. Penn has three games remaining - at home next weekend against Brown on Friday and Yale on Saturday, then at Princeton on March 6.

Harvard had a chance to clinch at least a share of the Ivy title with a victory. The Crimson won a share of the league crown a year ago, only to lose the tiebreaker game and the NCAA bid to Princeton.

"It's been a season of heart so far," said Rosen, who has been instrumental in late-game heroics for the Quakers throughout this season. "And it's going to have to be a season of heart for the next three games."

Trailing the Crimson by 11 in the second half, Penn was searching for an offensive spark and got it from Rosen. The point guard scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the game's final 12:46.

"The team needs me to step up and make plays," said Rosen, who is Penn's career leader in assists and is fourth all-time in scoring. "Coach [Jerome Allen] trusts me. All the guys trust me. Basically it's what I need to do for us to win. I was fortunate to make the plays tonight that I didn't make a couple weeks ago."

Said Allen, "We won the game, I turned around and looked at him. He was telling the guys, 'Let's hurry up and get in the locker room. Let's go home. We've still got work to do.'

"Because I saw that demeanor, I know that's he's locked in. He wants something more."

The Quakers hit on just 8 of 19 from the field in the first half and trailed 30-24 at intermission.

Harvard launched out to a 35-24 lead early in the second half, but the Quakers sliced it to one point, 37-36, with a 12-2 run. Rosen capped the spree with a long three-pointer.

"Zach's made tough shots all year long," said Allen. "The shots he made tonight, I wasn't surprised."

The Quakers stayed within arm's reach through most of the second half, although they still trailed by eight, 49-41, with 5:58 to play.

"For us to come back with the right focus," said Allen, "and pay attention to detail is a testament to their desire."

The Quakers eased closer until they drew to back to within one point, 54-53, when Rosen whirled and dropped in a 10-footer with 1:24 to go.

Moments later, with the ball back in his hands, Rosen drew the foul that put him on the line for the decisive free throws.

Kyle Casey (team-high 12 points) appeared to put the Crimson back in front with 3.5 seconds remaining when he tossed in a layup. However, he plowed into Penn guard Tyler Bernardini in the process and was charged with an offensive foul that wiped out the basket.