Final: Penn 59, Columbia 28

After the 90-yard completion to Knowlin, it looked like this game might be a close one. But Penn responded ferociously, scoring 38 unanswered points in the first half to put this game out of reach. Check out www.dailypennsylvanian.com in a little while for a full recap.

2:27 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

Tony Moses just put the exclamation point on this game for the Quakers. He absolutely annihilated a Columbia receiver and forced a fumble, which was recovered by the Quakers. This is Moses' second "jacked-up" tackle in as many weeks. Also a member of Penn's baseball team, Moses got a good lick on a Georgetown player last week.

3:58 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

David Wurst couldn't hang on to a bullet from McNally, and Columbia picked off the deflection. The Lions will take over on their own 45. It won't matter, though. Penn has this one in the bag. Sandberg will wind up just short of the 200-yard mark. He still had a heck of a day -- 197 yards and four touchdowns.

5:12 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

With the game pretty much over, Brendan McNally is now in at quarterback for the Quakers and just picked up a 1st down on a 6-yard run. Penn has the ball at its own 45. Kelms Amoo-Achampong and all of the backups are also in the game.

9:04 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

On 4th down from the 9, Hormann tried to throw for the first down, but Joey Brown did a nice job of breaking of the play. Penn now takes over on downs.

10:39 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

A long completion to Knowlin moves Columbia down to Penn's 31. Knowlin is approaching a single-game career record himself, with 176 yards receiving on the day.

11:43 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 59, Columbia 28

Well, as quickly as Penn is giving up touchdowns, its getting them back. Tyler Fisher just returned the kickoff 96 yards to paydirt. I believe that's Tyler Fisher's first kickoff return for a touchdown in his career. The Quakers have had some good returns this season, and it was only a matter of time before they got one in. 59 points is the most that Penn has scored in a Ivy League game during Bagnoli's tenure. Over on the other end of the press box, the Columbia writers are trying to figure out when they last gave up this many points. I just heard the words "Yale" and "1883."

11:55 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 52, Columbia 28

Another 19-yard strike from Hormann to Knowlin gives Columbia a touchdown. Again, poor coverage on Penn's part, and a missed tackle near the goal line allowed Knowlin to sneak in for 6. Penn still has most of its defensive starters in the game. Hormann has been very erratic today. On some throws he looks great, on others he looks terrible. Penn also bailed Columbia out on that drive with a pass interference after Ambrogi's sack.

12:39 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 52, Columbia 21

On 4th and 12, Columbia managed to move the chains on a 19-yard pass from Hormann to Knowlin, moving the ball to Penn's 23. Ambrogi just picked up another sack on 1st and 10, pushing Columbia back to the 30.

14:54 to go in the 4th quarter, Penn 52, Columbia 21

On 4th and 1, Sandberg checked back in and took it right up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run. Sandberg is getting awfully close the 200-yard mark himself, and this touchdown is his fourth. With all of the touchdowns, this might actually be a better fantasy day than McLeod's. Take that, Tannenwald. More importantly, after opening the door just a bit in the 3rd quarter for Columbia, the Quakers seem to have just slammed it shut.

End of the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 21

Mike DiMaggio just took over for Sandberg in the red zone and got stuffed on 3rd and 2, bringing up a 4th and 1 from Columbia's 13. It looks like Bagnoli's going to go for it on fourth down.

1:34 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 21

Just like that, Sandberg responds with a 15-yard pick up and a 45-yard run, and Penn has worked its way into the red zone.

2:15 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 21

Wynn returned the kickoff to the 23, where he was leveled by a Columbia special-teamer. Even though Columbia's still down by a bunch, they have the momentum right now. Penn's starters remain in the game on offense, and on 1st and 10, they just got called for a false start.

2:19 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 21

Out of the shotgun, Hormann rolled right and threw an 11-yard pass right on the money to Knowlin for the touchdown. As good as Penn's run defense has been today, it's secondary has left something to be desired. Bagnoli is not happy right now, in part because of the officiating, and in part because Penn has not picked up from where it left off at the end of the first half.

3:30 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 14

A 26-yard completion on 3rd and 17 gives Columbia a first down from its own 44 yard-line. On the previous play, Ambrogi came in on a corner blitz and sacked Hormann, and he just made an open-field tackle. Now, however, another completion -- a 22-yard pass -- gives the Lions a first down on Penn's 36. Penn needs to be careful here.

6:46 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 14

As Penn lines up to punt, there's quite a bit of confusion here. The play was stopped, Norries Wilson was out on the field yelling at one of his players, and Bagnoli nearly strangled an official. After all of that, nothing happened, and Melillo punted it to Columbia's 25, where the Lions will take over. Who knows what happened, but Bagnoli is still yelling at the official during the media timeout. He better watch out; he already received a sideline warning in the first quarter, and now he's walking out onto the field to complain to the head referee. We'll find out what this ordeal is about after the game.

8:15 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 14

Columbia just marched down the field with some nice passing plays against weak Penn coverage and scored a touchdown on a short running play. The drive was 10 plays, 74 yards. The Quakers looked flat on that drive, and give credit to Columbia for hanging tough.

11:26 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 7

Columbia just moved down to Penn's 39 on a pass interference call. Most of Penn's starters on defense are still in the game, but everyone is rotating in and out.

13:03 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 7

Columbia just showed a sign of life, sacking Bryan Walker and forcing Penn to punt. The Lions will take over at their own 36.

On a related note, Mike McLeod finished with 276 yards and two touchdowns in Yale's 23-7 win over Lehigh. How does one run for 276 yards in one game? Penn will have that to look forward to next week.

14:11 to go in the 3rd quarter, Penn 45, Columbia 7

Not that the game itself really matters at this point, but Sandberg is still in the game for the Quakers. Cisler, who sat out the 2nd half last week against Georgetown along with Sandberg, is also in. Bagnoli is not letting up yet.

Halftime Stats

Sandberg has 15 carries for 11 yards and 3 touchdowns. Walker is 14-19 for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Coleman leads all receivers with 3 catches for 39 yards. Koontz also has 3 catches for 33 yards, and Cisler has 3 catches for 24 yards. The Quakers had 17 first downs in the first half and 273 yards of total offense.

Meanwhile, Hormann is 12-26 and has thrown 2 interceptions. Jordan Davis has five carries for 5 yards. With the 90-yard completion, Austin Knowlin has 3 catches for 104 yards.

As I type this, some inebriated Columbia students are parading around the field with a banner that says "Quaker oats, go f*** goats." Yes, this game is very out of hand. They were just escorted out by security. So much for Columbia's homecoming festivities.

Columbia also has been penalized 9 times for 78 yards, and Hormann has been sacked three times.

In the second half, Penn will have a chance to score the most points in a single game in the modern era. The record is 61 points against San Diego in 2004. Chances are, Bagnoli will pull his starters, but with the way he chose to end that first half, who knows?

End of 1st half, Penn 45, Columbia 7

After first down passes to Coleman and Cisler, Bagnoli called timeout to set the Quakers up with one last play in the half. Walker dropped back and hit Lepisto for a 3-yard touchdown, capping off a 53-yard drive to end the half. The Lions are getting booed by their fans as they head off the field. The Quakers have officially spoiled the Columbia homecoming. This is the biggest blowout for the Quakers in a while. I'll try to find out just how long it's been since Penn's had this kind of first-half lead, and we'll have the halftime stats for you shortly. Also worth mentioning that by calling timeout and getting that extra touchdown, the Columbia faithful are not too pleased by Penn running up the score.

1:03 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 38, Columbia 7

I have to retract my last statement about starting Sandberg. Jon Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer has just informed me that that McLeod has 200+ yards and 2 touchdowns. In the meantime, Hormann is falling apart here. He's overthrowing his receivers, underthrowing them, and missing them altogether. Columbia looks dead. On 4th down from Penn's 47, Hormann just tried to hit Nico Gutierrez in the endzone, but Mark Washington broke it up. Penn will now take over and try to score one more before the end of the half.

3:18 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 38, Columbia 7

This is getting out of hand. Sandberg just picked up another touchdown on a 12-yard run. Columbia's just not tackling anyone. This is way too easy for Sandberg. Columbia students are starting to head for the exits, and we're still in the 2nd quarter. There might not be much of a homecoming crowd for the halftime festivities at this point. Sandberg now has 15 carries for 111 yards and three touchdowns. I hope you started him in fantasy; he might have an edge on Mike McLeod this week.

4:20 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 31, Columbia 7

Columbia's woes continue, and Penn's secondary has fully recovered from its poor start. After getting backed up to 2nd and 15 after a false start, Hormann threw a bad pass that was tipped by Washington and picked off by Pat Kimener. Penn took over at the 19, and then Columbia just committed a dead-ball personal foul, moving Penn up to Columbia's 8-yard line. Columbia is really playing terribly. This isn't to take anything away from the Quakers. They could have rolled over after that 90-yard Columbia completion and touchdown. But instead, they came back with something to prove and have scored 24 points unanswered. They're knocking on the door again.

5:27 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 31, Columbia 7

Penn looks like a true Ivy League title contender right now. After a 13-yard pass to Sandberg for a first down, Sandberg carried the ball 21 yards for the touchdown, deftly changing fields to avoid the Columbia defense and get it into the endzone. Columbia certainly missed its fair share of tackles, and its run defense has been awful. Sandberg is also having an outstanding game. He had 61 yards in the first quarter, and he probably has 100 by now. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in the locker room at halftime to hear what Norries Wilson has to say to his team.

6:39 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 24, Columbia 7

Columbia just got killed on penalties, backing it all the way up to its own 8. Then, on 2nd and 25, Hormann was hit on the throw and lobbed up a duck that was tipped by Wynn and picked off by Mark Washington. The Quakers take over at Columbia's 35.

7:39 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 24, Columbia 7

After Sandberg's run, Walker rolled right and hit Koontz in the back-right corner of the endzone on a beautiful fade route. This is the best the Quakers have looked on a drive all season. In Koontz, Walker might have found a reliable target. Earlier on the drive, after a play-fake, Walker rolled right and hit Koontz for 16 yards and the first down. Penn's offense was also well-rested coming into that possession, as the touchdown return by Manning on the blocked kick kept Penn's defense out on the field for two consecutive possessions. The drive was 79 yards and 10 plays, officially. 7:47 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 17, Columbia 7

The Quakers are moving the chains very well right now. It started with a good first down run by Mike DiMaggio, who has taken the bulk of the carries this drive. First down completions to Koontz and Cisler, and then a big first down run by Sandberg, have moved Penn all the way down to Columbia's 12.

11:35 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 17, Columbia 7

On 3rd and 17, Hormann had plenty of time, but Penn had all of Columbia's receivers covered. Hormann took it himself for 5 yards, forcing Columbia to punt. After a great punt with a lot of hang time, the ball was fair caught at the 20, where the Quakers will take over. Hormann has either had no time or all kinds of time today, but Columbia simply cannot get anything going on the ground.

12:12 to go in the 2nd quarter, Penn 17, Columbia 7

On 3rd and 2 from Columbia's 32, Columbia picked up 9 yards on a pass play for another big 3rd down conversion. Chris Wynn's coverage has been a bit soft here in the early going. But on the ensuing play, Naheem Harris just sacked Hormann for a loss of 7. 2nd and 17 for Columbia. Now, Wynn just redeemed himself with a good pass break-up on 2nd and 17.

0:01 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 17, Columbia 7

WOW!!! After a crazy drive, Columbia was forced to kick a field goal. The kick was blocked, and Jordan Manning picked up the loose football and took it back to the house, 63 yards for the touchdown. The kick, which was a 45-yard attempt, barely got off the ground. Earlier, after the Lions had converted their first down, they threw another 1st down pass up to the 26. Then, on 2nd down, Jay Colabella came in tried to sack Hormann, but Hormann threw the ball into the ground, getting flagged for intentional grounding. Columbia couldn't convert the long 3rd down and was forced to kick. Penn really dodged a bullet by forcing Columbia to kick a field goal. The Quakers' secondary has looked pretty weak in the early going. Maybe the touchdown return will give them a boost. It is worth noting that Colabella and Naheem Harris are playing tremendously so far.

2:43 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 10, Columbia 7

A 21-yard completion for the Lions on 2nd and 22 and a QB sneak gets them the first down on Penn's 40.

5:24 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 10, Columbia 7

Andrew Samson hit a 33-yard field goal to put the Quakers ahead 10-7. Penn could never recover from the holding penalty, only getting the ball back to Columbia's 17. On 3rd and 12, Walker threw to fullback Nick Cisler, but the pass fell underneath Cisler, who was short of the first down anyway.

6:46 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 7, Columbia 7

Penn has moved the ball down the field effectively, in large part due to a few good carries from Sandberg and a big 12-yard run by Walker on 3rd down. On the ensuing play, he threw behind Lepisto, but Columbia was called for roughing the passer, moving Penn up to Columbia's 13. Then, on a Sandberg run, Penn was called for a hold, backing them up to the 23. Bagnoli was just called for a sideline warning.

8:13 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 7, Columbia 7

A good kickoff return by Chris Wynn to Penn's 44 yard-line gives the Quakers good field position to bounce back.

8:22 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 7, Columbia 7

Unbelievable. After a great run-stop by Naheem Harris, a sack by Jay Colabella, and a false start, Columbia was backed up inside its 10 yard-line with a 3rd and 21. Under pressure, Hormann stepped up in the pocket and aired it out to Austin Knowlin, who reeled in the pass at around Penn's 40 and took it all the way down to the 1 for a 90-yard completion. A play later, Columbia's Ray Rangel ran it into the endzone, and now we're knotted up at 7. A terrible miscue for the Quakers' secondary.

10:44 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 7, Columbia 0

It is fitting that Joe Sandberg would finish off Penn's 55-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. He absolutely tore apart Columbia's defense on this drive. On 3rd down from midfield, Sandberg ran for 26 yards into Columbia's territory, and followed up that run with another 11-yard, first-down carry. He looks perfectly healthy so far, and if he keeps this up, it will be a long day for Columbia. The drive was seven plays, 55 yards.

13:34 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 0, Columbia 0

A successful beginning for the Quakers, as they force a three-and-out. On third and four, Jay Colabella came in on the blitz and sacked Craig Hormann for a 13-yard loss, stripping the ball in the process. Columbia was forced to punt, and the Quakers took over at the 45 yard-line.

14:52 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn 0, Columbia 0

Columbia just returned the kickoff to the 30 yard-line, and we are underway.

Final: Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Box score

What an absolutely crazy game. So much to talk about and clarify. Check out Monday's DP for complete coverage.

0:22 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

On 4th down, Penn threw into the end zone, and it looked like Coleman reeled it in. However, it was called incomplete. Bagnoli is screaming at the officials right now and just drew a flag, but that doesn't matter at this point. With no timeouts left for Penn, the game is over. Penn's nine-game winning streak against the Big Green is over.

0:52 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Walker keeps it and runs for the first down up to Dartmouth's 12. Penn spikes the ball and has a 2nd and 10.

1:02 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Penn takes its last timeout of the half and is faced with another 4th down situation. It's 4th and 2, to be exact, from Dartmouth's 24, and Penn is moving the ball well. Now that I have a second, it's worth noting that the last pass interference call was questionable. But anyway, here it is. 4th and 2.

1:16 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Penn has the ball at the Dartmouth 32 after a first down run by Walker. You could cut the tension with a knife.

1:33 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

On 4th and 2 for the Quakers from Dartmouth's 43, Walker an incomplete pass, but the referee calls a pass interference. Automatic first down.

2:15 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

PENN RECOVERS THE ONSIDE KICK! Samson booted hit hard off the ground into the chest of a Dartmouth special teamer who couldn't hang on, and Penn recovered. This is a nail-biter.

2:17 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

A nine yard pass to Lepisto for the touchdown, and the PAT from Samson, makes it a 21-13 game. It's not over yet. Get ready for a Penn onside kick.

2:22 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

After a good throw to Derham, Penn has it at Dartmouth's 9.

2:37 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

After a high snap, Dartmouth's punt was blocked, and Penn will take over at Dartmouth's 26.

3:01 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Three costly drops by Penn receivers on this possession have probably ended the Quakers' chances of winning. Kyle Derham couldn't reel in an pass on 4th and 2. Dartmouth now has it at its own 14.

4:24 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

A bad punt into the wind gives Penn good field position -- it will take over at the 42.

4:34 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Dartmouth didn't do much after the pass interference, but it did run the clock down. The Big Green will now punt from its own 21, leaving Penn with under five minutes to score 15 points. Penn hasn't scored 15 points in a single game all season.

7:02 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Jordan Manning just dropped what would have been a guaranteed pick-six. Why is Buddy Teevens going to the pass on 2nd down with a 21-6 lead in the 4th quarter? On third down, Bennewitz couldn't find Evans, but a pass interference on Joey Brown gives Dartmouth an automatic first down.

7:54 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

No luck for the Quakers. A Dartmouth linebacker batted Walker's pass down at the line of scrimmage, and Dartmouth takes over at Penn's 9.

7:57 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Here we go. A huge 4th and 3 now for the Quakers on Dartmouth's 9. Walker just rolled right on 3rd down and couldn't find Fisher on the run.

9:07 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Penn looked as though they were going to turn the ball over on downs again, but a pass interference on Dartmouth kept the drive alive -- Penn has the ball at the Dartmouth 26. The bad news is that Joe Sandberg just got hit very hard in the back after diving forward to pick up extra yardage on a screen pass, and he is out of the game. He did walk off on his own power, but this is not a good sign for Penn. Michael DiMaggio is in for the Quakers.

10:14 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

There is hope for Penn. Joey Brown just intercepted a bad throw from Bennewitz, and Penn takes over at Dartmouth's 47.

11:12 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Walker looked great in the first half, but the wheels are starting to come off. He's not getting much help either. After Lepisto dropped an easy pass on 1st down, Walker was sacked. He then threw two straight incomplete passes on 3rd and 15 and 4th and 15, and Dartmouth took over at Penn's 28. Look for Dartmouth to burn time off the clock now. Penn is in trouble.

13:04 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

The Quakers defense didn't let Dartmouth do anything, forcing the Big Green to punt from its own end zone into the wind. Penn will take over with great field position at the Dartmouth 36.

14:27 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

That was quick. Walker just threw three straight incomplete passes, with the second one nearly getting picked. The good news is that the drive only took 22 seconds off the clock, and Melillo pinned Dartmouth back at its own 3 on the punt, with an excellent tackle by Joey Brown.

14:53 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

On another play-action fake, Bennewitz rolled right and found Paul wide open, as defensive back Britton Ertman slipped. The secondary was very weak on that drive. Penn really needs to turn things around in a hurry.

End of 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

It looked as though Dartmouth was going to give the Quakers great field position, as penalties forced the Big Green back to its own 3, setting up a 1st and 27. Since then, however, Dartmouth has picked apart Penn's secondary and has the ball on Penn's 28. Bennewitz has been stellar on this drive.

2:59 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

Again, Penn put together a nice drive, and again, Penn couldn't do anything in the red zone. After Walker hit Lepisto on a great sideline pattern for the first down, the Quakers ran out of gas, and Samson was forced to attempt a 34-yard field goal into the wind, which he pushed wide right. Penn really needs a stop on defense.

8:42 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

Dartmouth moved the ball up the field well and capped off a 7 play, 66-yard drive with an outstanding 35-yard pass from Bennewitz to Brian Evans. Bennewitz did a good job of getting rid of the ball, as he was knocked to the turf on the throw. Penn's secondary gave Dartmouth's receivers too big of a cushion on that last drive.

12:15 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

So much for the momentum. Penn failed to capitalize on the interception and was forced to punt. Dartmouth now takes over at its 33.

14:50 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

After a false start penalty, Bennewitz tried to air it out on 1st and 15, but Chris Wynn came down with a diving catch for a remarkable interception. It was the first turnover of the game for both teams, and Wynn's 3rd pick of the season. The Quakers are fired up on the sidelines right now.

Halftime, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

All in all, an interesting first half for the Quakers. You can't really identify one area in which either team has struggled too severely. The Quakers running game has been relatively successful, and Bryan Walker -- who has taken all of the snaps so far -- managed a few nice passes down the field. On the other side of the ball, Penn's defense looked sharp on every drive except for Dartmouth's scoring one. Amazingly, the only truly stable component for Penn today has been the kicking game. After struggling against Lafayette, Samson has bounced back admirably, converting the longest field goal for Penn since 2004.

Give credit to Bryan Walker, who has been very poised in the pocket. Though he has certainly scrambled his fair share of times, he has spread the ball around nicely, completing 11 of 19 for 82 yards. Lepisto has yet to catch a pass, but Sandberg, Fisher, Coleman, and Lawrence have all had catches. More importantly, unlike last week at Villanova, Penn has no turnovers so far.

Penn has been strong on the ground. Sandberg has 16 carries for 76 yards, while Walker has rushed 4 times for 34 yards.

For Dartmouth, Bennewitz has played a solid game as well, completing 9 of 12 for 112 yards. Penn has not forced any turnovers.

The only real problem for the Quakers is an obvious one -- they haven't found the end zone. Stay tuned to find out if their luck will change.

0:13 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

You are not going to believe this. Andrew Samson just made a 45-yard field goal, and Penn's kicking game is 2-2 on the day. After a good completion and scramble by Walker, Penn had a 2nd and 2, but a 5 yard loss on a screen pass to Sandberg and a false start backed them up to 3rd and 12. Samson's field goal split the uprights and had room for at least 50. Seriously.

2:50 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

The Quakers had another strong 3rd down conversion, as Bryan Walker hit Marcus Lawrence up the middle for 17 yards. They couldn't convert their next third down, though, and were forced to punt. Melillo booted it to the Dartmouth 3, where it was downed by longsnapper Teddy Rosenbaum. After bearing down on defense, Penn forced to Dartmouth go 3 and out, and the Big Green is now punting from its own end zone, with Lawrence back to receive. Penn has one timeout remaining.

9:22 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

A great play by free safety Pat Kimener on 3rd down, as he broke up a good pass from Bennewitz to force the punt. For the Quakers, Marcus Lawrence is returning the punts today after Chris Wynn and Greg Ambrogi struggled in the first two games. Now, after two false starts, the Quakers are on the move. A good run from Sandberg and a pass to Kyle Derham set up a 3rd and 6, and Sandberg caught the short pass and muscled his way forward to move the chains.

11:53 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

Penn put together a decent drive, working the ball all the way down to the Dartmouth 6. Bryan Walker and Joe Sandberg ran the ball well against the Big Green defense, but the passing game has been almost non-existent, as Walker threw the ball away on 3rd and goal. Andrew Samson converted the 23-yard field goal -- the Quakers first field goal of the season -- to put Penn on the board. The drive was 11 plays, 66 yards.

End of the 1st, Dartmouth 7, Penn 0

Penn's defense looked absolutely miserable on that last drive, as Dartmouth marched all the way down the field from its own 9 for the score. A key pass on 3rd down from Dartmouth's Tom Bennewitz to Eric Paul put Dartmouth into the red zone, and another 19 yard completion and 1 yard run capped off the 12-play, 90 yard drive. Now, Walker remains in the game for Penn, and Sandberg is looking sharp. Penn has the ball on Dartmouth's 31.

6:56 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

The Quakers have run the ball quite a bit early, with Walker having only completed one pass so far. The Quakers failed to convert a short pass play to tight end Josh Koontz on a 3rd and 4 from the Dartmouth 33, however, and coach Al Bagnoli elected to punt. Melillo's punt pinned Dartmouth back to its own 9.

9:37 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

Two big passing plays brought Dartmouth down to Penn's 22, but strong run defense from Penn forced Dartmouth to kick a field goal. With a good push at the line, Penn blocked the field goal and Tony Moses pounced on it at the 33. Bryan Walker remains in the game for the Quakers.

12:54 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

Tyler Fisher returned the opening kickoff all the way to Dartmouth's 36, but the Quakers couldn't take advantage of the good field position, turning the ball over on downs. Bryan Walker started in place of Robert Irvin at quarterback, and couldn't hit Braden Lepisto on 4th and 3. Sandberg carried the ball on the first three downs.

But there are still two more rounds to be played, and Pipitone still has a shot at finishing very respectably. Of the 156 players in the field, only 28 are at even-par or better.

Johnson: "Here comes the All-America. Meltzer...six...fires! Got it!! He banked in a three."

Raftery: "ONIONS!!!!"

Johnson: "What a game!"

Raftery: "OOOH!"

Johnson: "Larry Bird? Maybe!"

Raftery: "Look at the clock and when you're sleepless in the large conference room, why not get a little....KISS! Gus! Oh! Major ONIONS! All on his own. Look at the contesting. Oh, what a smooch! Wooh! Wow!"

Johnson: "Crunch time you go to your best player."

Raftery: "This kid is extraordinary."

Next year should be an adventure for Miller with new guys having to go from role players to primary options. But we'll have plenty of time to discuss that in the next eight months.

It's been a pleasure keeping you updated this season on The Buzz. Stick with us for more commentary on this one and throughout the offseason.

Texas A&M 61, Penn 48 (2nd, 1:36)
The 13-point spread appears to be the only thing in danger now as Miller calls timeout down by just that margin. Since the Quakers took a two-point lead, it's been a 24-9 run by the Aggies.

It's going to be hard to point to one specific thing that Penn did wrong in this one. The shots just didn't fall (4-for-20 from three-point range). They got the looks they wanted and played reasonably good defense. A&M was just too strong and Law too good off the dribble.

Texas A&M 57, Penn 47 (2nd, 3:03)
This play just proves what we already knew. An Acie Law-Justin Reilly matchup won't turn out well for Penn. Law's blow-by and easy layup gives the Aggies another 10-point lead.

Texas A&M 55, Penn 45 (2nd, 4:08)
Sixth man Marlon Pompey has to exit after Zoller catches him with an arm while taking a layup. It's time for somebody like Zoller to take this game on his shoulders, but that airball on a three won't help.

A backbreaker from Kirk, who nails a three in the final seconds of the shot clock.

Texas A&M 49, Penn 43 (2nd, 5:49)
Zoller ends the nearly-six-minute drought with two straight baskets to give him 15 points for the game. But the Quakers, now losing the second chance points battle 13-2 just sent Law to the line when they couldn't come up with a rebound.

Texas A&M 47, Penn 39 (2nd, 7:28)
Miller finally calls timeout after watching his team endure five minutes of scoreless basketball while A&M has gone on a 10-0 run. Six second chance points and two isolation buckets by Law. It's pretty clear which of the two routes this game took at the critical juncture.

Texas A&M 43, Penn 39 (2nd, 10:04)
The prayer wasn't answered yet as Jones throws down two vicious dunks for A&M to give them the lead back. Quakes back to getting killed on their defensive glass.

Penn 39, Texas A&M 37 (2nd, 11:42)
The band couldn't have picked a better time for Living on a Prayer.

Penn 39, Texas A&M 37 (2nd, 11:42)
This is make or break time in any upset bid. We saw Oral Roberts tie the game with a huge run against No. 1 Memphis last year around this time. But they couldn't continue the run. This game could go either direction. A&M could come out of this timeout refocused and go on a run of their own. Or Penn could keep playing inspired basketball.

Now the Quakers have every Louisville fan on their side, and A&M looks a little rattled. These next few will be critical possessions.

Penn 39, Texas A&M 37 (2nd, 12:16)
Rupp Arena explodes as Ibrahim Jaaber lays it in following a brilliant save by Grandieri.

But at the other end, Zoller commits his third, and Kavaliauskas continues his free throw anti-clinic.

Texas A&M 37, Penn 37 (2nd, 13:26)
Now the fans are into it as Zollers three touches every piece of the rim and drops. Jaaber follows that with an acrobatic layup and conversion of the three-point play.

All new ball game, baby.

Texas A&M 37, Penn 31 (2nd, 14:14)
As Kavaliauskas bricks a pair of free throws, the Penn fans serenade him with the U!S!A! chant. Don't think Andreas Schreiber liked that one.

A Grandieri bucket brings the Quakers as close as they've been since 11-7, but Law ends the 11-1 run with two free throws.

Texas A&M 35, Penn 28 (2nd, 15:31)
A three by Reilly from the top of the key and a short jumper by Zoller give Penn som life early on in the half. The Quakers now have the crowd going and have to keep this momentum going after the media timeout. It's an 8-1 run.

This is Penn's chance to make some major noise with Smith going to the line.

The Penn fans are pleading for the Louisville faithful to get into the game. And if they're a fraction as loud as they were during UL's romp over Stanford, it could make a big difference.

Texas A&M 34, Penn 23 (2nd, 18:15)
And as soon as I say that, he converts a three-point play, making Penn's first free throw.

Texas A&M 34, Penn 20 (2nd, 18:32)
Zoller really having a rough time out there, as the big man is 1-for-6 from the floor, had a tipped pass slip through his hands and just got manhandled inside by Kavaliauskas. Meanwhile, Penn finally makes one from long distance, but Danley's three is well after a whistle for a foul.

Texas A&M 31, Penn 18 (Still Halftime)
This is why you have to love the NCAA Tournament. How is it still halftime?

Texas A&M 31, Penn 18 (Halftime)
Quakers finish the first half without attempting a free-throw, although A&M has only taken two. These officials can't wait to get out of Lexington. Maybe they couldn't find an open restaurant either.

Penn shooting 8-for-27 so far, while the Aggies have cooled off, going 13-for-26. But a cooldown doesn't seem to matter as much when they're leading 17-9 on the glass.

Jaaber leads the Quakers with 6 points, while Zoller is shooting 1-for-6 from the floor. And Kirk, who averages just 6.5 points per game for the Aggies, already has 10.

This is easily Penn's lowest-scoring first half of the season, breaking the mark of 24 set against Syracuse. The halftime deficit is tied for the largest of the season with the games at Syracuse and Seton Hall.

Texas A&M 31, Penn 18 (1st 0:39)
Smith and Lewis miss layups within a span of 20 seconds, and Carter finally heats up with a three on A&M's third shot of the possessions.

Penn fans getting very whiny, and the band has resorted to the "athlete-students" chant just as A&M gets more second-chance points.

Danley did return at the 2:17 mark. We'll see if he's feeling better or if this was desparation given the lack of strength on the defensive glass.

Texas A&M 26, Penn 13 (1st 3:57)
Still no sign of Danley since he's gone out. Looks like his back just couldn't hold up. Sad way to end a career if this really is the end for Penn.

Texas A&M 26, Penn 13 (1st 4:03)
The frontcourt carousel continues to spin as Votel picks up his second and is replaced by Cameron Lewis. None of the options seems to work as Jones and Kavaliauskas are having their way inside despite Penn's getting away with some serious jersey grabbing. Miller calls timeout as A&M capitalizes on two steals for easy layups.

Quakers now shooting 6-for-21 and 1-for-9 from three-point range, and the Aggies are on an 11-2 run.

Texas A&M 16, Penn 11 (1st 6:54)
The Quakers seem to have shaken the early jitters as they're taking some smart shots. Law is standing with hands on knees but still hits a big three on the next possession and an acrobatic driving layup the following time. That's why this guy will be an All-American.

Texas A&M 11, Penn 7 (1st 9:30)
The platoon of big men has begun to get some minutes with Justin Reilly taking the place of Votel. Penn is really getting away with something time after time as Carter has missed some wide open threes. Baskets by Jaaber and Egee keep Penn close.

Texas A&M 10, Penn 3 (1st 11:57)
Now one of Billy Gillispie's biggest fears is realized as Antanas Kavaliauskas picks up his second foul. Penn works it inside on offense, but Zoller misses an easy layup and travels on his next touch. Can't be doing that if you're trying to pull the huge upset. The only thing keeping Penn in the game is that the nation's top three point shooter, Josh Carter, keeps missing open shots from downtown.

Quakers now 1-for-12 from the field. No use having all these Louisville fans around if you're not going to give them anything to cheer about.

Texas A&M 10, Penn 3 (1st 13:03)
OK, raise your hand if you had a Brennan Votel three-pointer more than five minutes in as Penn's first field goal. But after missing their first seven, the Quakers are finally on the board. A&M executing well on offense, though, except for a couple of wayward passes.

Texas A&M 7, Penn 0 (1st 15:20)
Great news for Penn fans! When Princeton upset 4-seed UCLA in the Ivy League's last tournament upset in 1996, they also trailed a touchdown to nothing at the first media timeout. Just trying not to make it sound so bleak.

Danley goes out three minutes in, so we'll have to watch him carefully given the condition of his back. He missed badly on a three-pointer, but doesn't look terrible moving. The Quakers meanwhile can't buy a bucket, even thought they've gotten some good looks.

Texas A&M 2, Penn 0 (1st 18:20)
One of Penn's biggest fears realized early after Dominique Kirk gets a second-chance bucket. That's one area where Penn can't be dominated. Airball from Smith on the other end. Looks like a mismatch early on.

Penn 0, Texas A&M 0 (1st 20:00)
Penn looks focused as they take the court. A&M just looks enormous.

The Aggies band has already played "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and done a song, probably their alma mater, during which the fans held their arms around each other and swayed. A little like Cornell hockey without the "Deep in the Heart of Texas" part.

Pregame
We're just minutes from the tipoff as 14-seeded Penn is set to take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M at Rupp Arena.

The Quakers are trying to break an eight-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament and advance to the second round. If they do, they'll take on No. 6 Louisville, which demolished Stanford in the opener. Here are your starting lineups.

Penn (22-8)
G Ibrahim Jaaber (Sr. 6-2, 170)
G Darren Smith (Fr. 6-4, 200)
G Brian Grandieri (Jr. 6-4, 190)
F Mark Zoller (Sr. 6-7, 220)
F Steve Danley (Sr. 6-8, 225)

Texas A&M (25-6)
G Acie Law (Sr. 6-3, 195)
G Dominique Kirk (Jr. 6-3, 180)
G Josh Carter (So. 6-7, 195)
F Joseph Jones (Jr. 6-9, 250)
F Antanas Kavaliauskas (Sr. 6-10, 250)

George Washington 78, Rhode Island 69 FINAL

The Colonials are clutch on the free throws, and a missed Mbang three (looking for the foul) will just about do it.

Baron misses a three (in and out) and Mbang misses a dunk, and the party has started for George Washington.

Maureece Rice throws his jersey 20 feet in the air (man, he's big), and the fans rush the court. One fan even drops his phone — battery goes flying — but he keeps on running.
One player lies on the ground, hands over his face, and the fans jump on top to help him celebrate.

George Washington 75, Rhode Island 69 0:37.5 2nd Half

Ellliott dribbles off his foot in the backcourt, but the refs are looking for a foul, and call one. He hits the two free throws.

Baron again keeps the dream alive for URI with a three off a pump fake.

George Washington 73, Rhode Island 66 0:50.3 2nd Half

Bitee starts the fouling for the Rams. A little early down 6. King hits one.

Baron comes up way short on his three-point attempt. That is a surprise, he's a 49-percent shooter from behind the arc.
Bitee drives to the hoop to keep the game alive.

George Washington 70, Rhode Island 64 1:23 2nd Half

GW grabs yet another steal, and Rice goes to the line the other way, hitting two.
Daniels gets to the line as well, and is equally clutch.

George Washington 68, Rhode Island 62 2:16 2nd Half

As the Colonials try to keep it a two-possession game as they have done throughout, Akingbade picks up an offensive foul, and Keith Cothran drains a baseline jumper.
Akingbade comes back with a tough layup.

George Washington 46, Rhode Island 60 3:37 2nd Half

Just as GW was getting all the loose balls, Daniels takes a steal the other way for a dunk. He's got 27 points, already 15 this half.

GW fans singing loudly along with a band song, and the URI faithful chant louder to disrupt it.

George Washington 66, Rhode Island 58 4:20 2nd Half

Seawright and King trade quick baskets.
GW is finally slowing it down a bit, and it's working.

George Washington 62, Rhode Island 56 6:45 2nd Half

Daniels gets an NBA-style continuation (still probably a good call though) for an and-1. URI is finally ball-faking and passing the ball very well. The 15 1st-half turnovers were a real eye-opener.

Bitee throws a pass into the top of the 1-3-1, but gets it back on a TO, and gets it to Daniels for a sick hanging jumper. Rice had a nasty crossover, but missed the long jumper.

It's a four-point lead, and the crowd on both sides gets loud.
Daniels finally misses two shots, though, and GW has a tiny bit of breathing room.

George Washington 57, Rhode Island 49 10:23 2nd Half

Hollis picks up his fourth foul, but Koundija hits a three to keep the lead at seven.
Daniels is the only one who is doing anything against the 1-3-1 zone of the Colonials. He turns a drive to the hoop into two points from the line.

Now Koundija fouls out on a loose-ball foul, and the URI crowd loves it.
Rice finally scores to make it 51-44, but you have to feel the Rams are playing better basketball right now.

Seawright hits one off an o-reb, and they go zone, but Rice finally hits a three. That's a big one.
Now Travis King adds to the lead, but downtown specialist Baron comes back with one. This is the most entertaining game yet this tournament.

George Washington 46, Rhode Island 42 15:50 2nd Half

Daniels continues on his tear with an open three, but Elliott responds with one of his own. Seawright had a shot sitting on the rim that got swatted out. Shoulda been two points.
Daniels his yet another triple against the shifting zone, and we've got a ballgame.

Halftime:
The Philadephia natives are a combined 3-for-14, but GW is still managing 43.2-percent shooting, slightly better than URI's 40.7 percent. (Oddly enough, Rice's shoes are light-blue and black, almost the same as his opponents' colors.)
Akingbade leads the Colonials with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting, while star swingman Daniels paces the Rams with 12.
The key stat separating these teams is the turnovers — GW has three, URI has 15. Yup, and it's only halftime.

George Washington 44, Rhode Island 36 HALFTIME

The refs have now determined that it was a flagrant foul, and Mbang and Baron each shoot two, and hit three in total. The way Mbang landed it seems like a good call.

URI is now going against a zone, and passing well, but couldn't finish on the last contested layup.
Bitee's long pass to Baron is too far, and the GW defense is starting to get to the Rams.

Wilmore misses a pair of threes, but gets himself a steal and runner for two back.
URI is really turning it over, three in three possessions.

George Washington 40, Rhode Island 31 3:38 1st Half

Rice has an open layup, but Mbang pins him against the basket, and the URI crowd at that end goes nuts.

Mbang then goes hard to the hoop for a layup and gets laid out by Koundija. Mbang is pissed and the teams come together in the lane. It's getting heated, though nothing goes down.

Boardwalk Hall is about 70 percent full (6,000 fans maybe), which outside of the St. Joe's — Temple game on Wednesday is by far the largest crowd yet.

George Washington 38, Rhode Island 31 4:19 1st Half

Daniels, who was quiet in yesterday's upset of Xavier, is having a great game. He muscles his way to an offensive rebound and a layup.
But two quick Elliott baskets — one off of a steal — and GW takes back the lead.

Akingbade takes a pass for a wide open two-handed dunk, and the lead is five for the 3-seed. He now twists through the defense for a layin.

George Washington 26, Rhode Island 27 7:59 1st Half

Diggs just got hit in the nose with an elbow from Mbang, and was bleeding profusely. It was no Tyler Hansbrough nosebleed, but a pool of blood on the ground. (We now know he broke his nose) Daniels drains a three, and the Rams are on top. Daniels, usually more of an offensive threat, gets a nasty block on Elliott, but the GW guard was fouled down low.
On the other end Hollis gets called for a foul on another block. He takes a lap around the three-point line in frustration.

In all, the URI offense is great. The Rams are knocking down the outside shots, and penetrating only a little, but much more that GW's opponents the last two days (St. Joe's and Saint Louis) could.

George Washington 20, Rhode Island 20 10:53 1st Half

Both teams are in a little three-quarter-court press. The Rams are in their usual 2-3 zone, while the Colonials go man.
Now URI goes to a man defense, but is still pressing. The tempo is nice and fast.

Noel Wilmore stuffs a guard trying for some penetration. Wilmore, a Philadelphia native along with teammate Rice, is helps to keep GW's inside defense particularly stingy. They only let St. Joe's big men Ahmad Nivins and Rob Ferguson hit three combined shots in their round two matchup.

Mbang drains a three from way out, and we're tied. The forward has made more outside shots than GW as a team. Rob Diggs, though, gets the best of Mbang on the other end.

George Washington 14, Rhode Island 11 15:43 1st Half

Maureece Rice starts it off with a trey from the corner, but coach's son Jimmy Baron responds.
What the heck, Damian Hollis hits another three to make it three on three combined possessions.
Akingbade beasts Daniels for an easy layup, and all of a sudden the Colonials have a nine-point lead.

GW is pressing and trapping with two guards in the backcourt.
It was doing some good, but now Parfait Bitee hits his fellow Cameroon native Joe Mbang for an open three.

Starters:

URI:

G Parfait Bitee 6-2
G Jimmy Baron 6-2
F Will Daniels Jr 6-8
F Kahiem Seawright 6-8
C Darrell Harris 6-10

GW

G Maureece Rice 6-1
G Damian Hollis 6-8
G Carl Elliott 6-4
F Regis Koundija 6-8
F Dokun Akingbade 6-9

It's down to three. The A-10 half of the Philadelphia teams — La Salle, Temple and now St. Joe's are unofficially out of the NCAA Tournament. Penn and most likely Villanova are in, while Drexel gets to sweat it out on Selection Sunday.

The Hawks just couldn't hit anything down the stretch. No fault can go to Nivins, who got to the line with amazing regularity, but the three pointers that had to go in were all bricks.

(3) George Washington 57, (6) St. Joe's 48 0:11.6

Govens, like most players attempting three free throws late in the game, misses the first, but makes the next two after getting fouled on a three. GW is winning the FT battle, also like most teams leading late in games do.

Some fans chant "the Hawk will never die."

(3) George Washington 56, (6) St. Joe's 46 0:44 2nd Half

St. Joe's will have to hope it can win it by fouling, and GW is now in the double bonus.
Nivins misses a free throw and GW is in control.

(3) George Washington 52, (6) St. Joe's 43 1:05 2nd Half

Williamson gets a steal, but loses it himself, and the Colonials score the transition layup.

(3) George Washington 50, (6) St. Joe's 43 1:58 2nd Half

Nivins makes two, but the Hawks need a stop real bad.
They get one, but turn it over themselves.

Martelli's starting the offense-defense subs with Calathes and Williamson, respectively.

A Govens three rims out. Ferguson finally scores, off of his own offensive board.

(3) George Washington 48, (6) St. Joe's 39 3:46 2nd Half

Rice gets back into the scoring with a mid-range jumper, followed by a tough layup.
Two free throw misses in four hurt for St. Joe's.

It's all man-to-man now, as finally the Hawks get a stop.

On the 3-on-2 break Rivera hits Nivins with a sweet behind-the-back pass, and the big man gets fouled, as his shot rolls out.

(3) George Washington 43, (6) St. Joe's 37 7:26 2nd Half

Travis King's layup makes the lead double-digits, as Carter's pass just slips out of his hands. Calathes' pass goes awry, and now Diggs banks one in in the lane. Gw's trapping is creating some bad giveaways.

How do you stop a good halfcourt defense? Williamson takes a pass in transition for an and-1 layup, and then Rivera pushes the ball to draw another foul.
Rivera misses the second, but an offensive rebound and a Nivins deuce and all of a sudden it's back to six.

Ferguson still hasn't scored for the Hawks.

(3) George Washington 37, (6) St. Joe's 31 11:46 2nd Half

DeMayo calls a reach-in on Nivins that looked clean. DeMayo was the furthest away official, but his superior abilities must make up for it.
A fan taunts "Joey blank-in DeMayo", but his assistant makes the reach-in call that upsets the fans.

(3) George Washington 34, (6) St. Joe's 31 15:48 2nd Half

Calathes gets the half started off right with a three and a floater.
A block on one end and a drawn foul on the other and Ferguson and Nivins are starting to play a lot bigger.

Govens hits a three in front of the St. Joe's bench, and coach Phil Martelli calmly pumps his fist.
As you can no doubt tell from the scorelines, the Hawks are on a 10-1 run.

(3) George Washington 33, (6) St. Joe's 21 HALFTIME

A dissappointing last few minutes for St. Joe's. The Colonials' opportunistic perimeter defense created 10 turnovers, and the inside shut down a usually-dominant Hawks frontcourt. Rice and Diggs lead the Colonials with 10 and 11 points, respectively, each on 4-for-7 shooting. The Hawks have three assists.

(3) George Washington 31, (6) St. Joe's 21 1:41 1st Half

The crowd is getting a lot quieter, though a drunk fan still tries to clap along with the cheerleaders (though he's a half-second late).

Going for a board Elliott lands awkwardly on his ankle. Some good news for them though, as Koundija is back in for the newly-injured player.

(3) George Washington 30, (6) St. Joe's 20 2:39 1st Half

Rice is tearin' it up, hitting another triple and dropping Diggs a dime in transition.

(3) George Washington 25, (6) St. Joe's 18 3:35 1st Half

Diggs throws one down to keep the lead. Ferguson with a great box-out. I sure miss that at the Palestra.
Ref Joe DeMayo enthusiastically points to Nivins way out of the paint as he committs a foul on an and-1.

Koundija is hurt for GW, looks like it could be a shoulder.

Diggs blocks Jawan Carter's layup. The inside is owned by GW.
A Rice three, and the lead's back to seven.

(3) George Washington 17, (6) St. Joe's 15 7:20 1st Half

After two FTS, the Hawks come out in a 3-2 zone and get a stop, but then go right back to man, and Govens gets a steal and goes coast-to-coast.
As the crowd livens up, Rice tries to quiet it with a baseline dunk, but the 6-10 Calathes throws him off and he misses.

(3) George Washington 17, (6) St. Joe's 11 9:29 1st Half

The Hawks are now getting it going. They finally force a turnover, and Govens hits a transition three.
Quickly the other way Diggs has an open layup, but Nivins comes out of nowhere for a nasty block.

A Nivins dunk on the other end and we have a ballgame.

(3) George Washington 17, (6) St. Joe's 6 11:19 1st Half

The Hawks are having real trouble scoring inside against GW, which normally starts three guys 6-foor-8 or taller.
Rice and company are running all over the Hawks in transition as well.
Govens throws a terrible pass, and the Hawks give it up again.

There are a lot of fans here, mostly for the Hawks. No one showed up for the first three games, so it's nice to see a real crowd.

(3) George Washington 13, (6) St. Joe's 4 13:20 1st Half

D.J. Rivera hits a rainbow, but Elliott comes right back with a three

(3) George Washington 8, (6) St. Joe's 2 16:08 1st Half

Philly native Maurice Rice starts off the scoring for the Colonials. Along with Noel Wilmore, he's one of two local players on GW.
The Hawks start with all bricks, and a few transition baskets and it's 6-0 GW.

Starters:

St. Joe's:
G Garrett Williamson
G Darrin Govens
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins

George Washington:
G Maurice Rice
G Carl Elliott
G Damian Hollis
F Dokun Akingbade
F Regis Koundija

The Billikens come off of a one-point win over Duquesne, and are looking sharp in the early going. UMass comes in as the 2-seed, and at 56th in the RPI probably needs to win the whole thing to make it to the NCAA Tournament.
A-10 Player of the Year Stephane Lasme hasn't done much so far, and his blocks count is at zero. Lasme averages over five per game, good enough for second in the nation. He swatted 10 against La Salle last week for his fourth triple-double of the season. He has the highest shoulders-size-to-leg size I've ever seen.

I have to congratulate myself, I just made a sick catch off of a ball that SLU's Luke Meyer tried to save. He flipped it (with some good english) in the air, and I snagged it after about 3.5 seconds hangtime before it landed on the table next to me.

A guy from the crowd just hands bracketologist Joe Lunardi a pack of cookies, and says he must try them even though they're sugarfree. Lunardi offers to pass them around on a sampler platter. I'm not sure whether he actually knows Joe.

Lasme rejects 6-foot-10 Ian Vouyoukas. It should have been a jump ball, but the center gets it back and scores.
The Gabon man is also the A-10's leading rebounder at 9.4 per game

Halftime show:

I don't know how to describe this, but a guy is doing this puppet (almost a ventriliquist) show, dancing with four puppets connected to him (two in front, two in back) that mimic anything he does by poles and wires.
The hilarious part is that the guy, a pretty well-built African American, is dressed as a Native American, with a headdress, underwear-size shorts and boots. He's naked besides that. His puppets are a cop, a guy in all leather, a construction worker and a cowboy. They dance to classic American songs, it's absolutely ridicullous.

Slowly, the Billikens have creeped back into it, and now have taken the lead. Thanks to a methodical offense, they have practically doubled their score from the first half in less than 10 minutes.
Vuoyoukas and 7-footer Bryce Husak are doing some good work down low.

Yet another 7-footer, 7-1 Luke Bonner, gets an offensive rebound and goes to the line.
The other freak of nature, Husak, gets an and-1 for Saint Louis to take the 55-52 lead. Starting forward Rashaun Freeman has fouled out for UMass.

James Life hits yet another trey to tie it at 57.
Up by two now, UMass begins to press. Gary Forbes tries to pump up the crowd as it starts to get loud.

Justin Johnson's jumper ties the gamee at 63 with two minutes to go.
Bonner hits two from the line to take back the lead, but the Billikens tie it right back up with an inside layup.

UMass runs down the clock, but Life gets a violation with 4.7 seconds to go, and Saint Louis takes over with a chance to win.

Lisch's three is off the side of the rim and we go to OT

OVERTIME:

Five seconds in Lasme gets his fourth foul, and SLU goes up two on the FTs.
Lisch drains a jumper and Bonner airballs a three the other way.

A UMass turnover, and airball and a SLU turnaround, and the 2-seed is down 6 and in deep trouble.

A miss off of a five-footer, and the deficit is seven. But Forbes comes right back by nailing a three off of a screen at the top of the key. It was the Minutemen's first points of OT.

Liddell, a 75-percent shooter hits one, and UMass misses a few tough layups and gets it back.

Life then hits a huge three from the corner, and UMass is down two. Saint Louis calls timeout.

Lisch throws a pass to Liddell that goes backcourt (barely), but with eight seconds left Lowe gets stripped, and UMass has to foul.

After Liddell hits one, Forbes has a chance for the win… but his pump fake and three hits the near rim as buzzer sounds.

What a crazy game. It is the fifth out of seven this week where the trailing team had an opportunity to win or tie on the final possession. This was the first upset though.

____________

(4) Rhode Island 73 (5) Fordham 69

In the battle of the Rams, Rhode Island defended its territory with a 73-69 win.

This was not a good result for Penn, as a Fordham win would have boosted the Quakers' RPI.
And while the game looked like it would be a blowout, Fordham made it into yet another A-10 Tourney nailbiter.

The Blue Rams held a 36-20 lead but a few threes later the Burgundy variety cut that lead to six on a 12-2 run.

Shortly after, Fordham looked like it was about to fall way behind again, but with a 14-0 run led by Sebastian Greene driving the lane and capitalized by a Bryant Dunston dunk and a two big threes, it actually took the lead, 49-46. URI was playing a 2-3 zone, but Fordham shot them out of it.

The Fordham defense started to close up inside, but Bryant Dunston fouling out with 4:54 left maimed their inside prescence. Soon after Marcus Stout also picked up his fifth, and with that the Burgandy Rams' two leading scorers were done for the night.

With under a minute to go, a backdoor dunk from Lamonte Ulmer for Rhode Island tied it up at 69.

And with 11.1 seconds to go, Jimmy Baron got into the lane got a hard layup to go taking the two-point lead.

In the final seconds, some great defense gave Brenton Butler — who hit all of his six attempts from downtown, nowhere to go. Before he could even force up a shot, he picked up his pivot foot, traveled with 0.9 seconds to go to end it.

Unlike the first game of the day, both teams have about equal support in the crowd, though the 9,000-capacity Boardwalk Hall is still only about a third full.

Interesting notes: Rhode Island coach Jim Baron’s son Jimmy is the third-leading three-point shooter in the country.
Also two players — forward Joe Mbang and point guard Parfait Bitee — are both from Yaounde, Cameroon. Former Quakers forward Friedrich Ebede and these guys woulda made a great 3-on-3 squad.

____________

(1) Xavier 72, (8) Dayton 51

The game started at a torrid scoring pace, but then Dayton just couldn’t score. Xavier opened up a nice on a 20-5 run late in the 1st half.

As a goaltending call cuts it to 52-42, the Dayton fans start to get into it. A few Little drives — one sailing dunk — are keeping the Flyers in striking distance.

It was a balanced effort from Xavier, but Justin Doellman was really the leader in the second half. After the break he scored 11 points (19 total) on 3-for-5 shooting, with three assists — all of which went for three-pointers.

UMass may have the best player, but Xavier clearly looks to be the best team. Doellman, Justin Cage, Stanley (no relation to Pat) Burrell and Drew Lavender all have the potential to take over a game. Cage went 6-for-6 from the field, while Lavender — the diminutive, former highly touted prospect and Oklahoma transfer — had nine assists to only one giveaway.

Most of the crowd — quantity and sound-wise — was XU fans, who are all obsessed w/ the 'X' in their name. One student shaved an 'X' in his hair, everyone did the intentional foul sign with their arms, and they all cheered “lets go X."