Penn led 30-28 at the half and Tim Begley extended that lead with a three-pointer to open the second period. After a layup by Ibrahim Jaaber and foul shots by Steve Danley, the Quakers were up by six points, 38-32, with 16:59 remaining. Off a Begley miss, Matt Preston (Wantagh, N.Y.) grabbed an defensive rebounds and found Jeremiah Boswell (Jasper, Ga.) for a three, cutting the lead to three with just over 16 left to play. Boswell went on to score five more points over the next minute and a half to give the Lions a four-point lead, 42-38, with 14:36 on the clock.
Preston gave Columbia its biggest lead of the game, five, with a three-pointer at 13:58, but on the very next possession Jaaber hit a three followed by a huge three by Begley and Penn was back on top 46-45 at 13:09. There were three lead changes and ties over the next three minutes, but with the score tied at 49-49, Begley hit another three to put the Quakers up for good.
Down eight with just over a minute to play, the Lions started to foul in an effort to stop the clock. The strategy almost worked as three consecutive threes, two by Boswell and one by first-year Brett Loscalzo (Ridgefield, Conn.) cut the lead to three, 69-66 with 27 seconds on the clock. Begley and Eric Osmundson connected on all four of the final free throws for the final seven-point victory.
Preston and Penn's Danley led all scorers with 18 points. Preston went 7 of 14 from the floor with nine rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes of action. Preston's five assists were more than any two Quakers combined. Danely went 2 of 4 from the field and 14 of 17 from the foul line.
Boswell went 5 of 7 from the three-point line and finished with 17 points. He added four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 36 minutes. Loscalzo finished with nine, while Colin Davis (Green Bay, Wisc.) totaled eight points and one rebound in just six minutes of play. Ben Nwachukwu (Enugu, Nigeria) totaled seven points in seven minutes to round out the Columbia leaders.
Jaaber finished with 15 for Penn, while Begley added 13 points in the win.
Columbia shot a season-high 12 three-pointers (12-25), while shooting a season low eight free throws (6-8). Penn's 47 free throws are the most by a Columbia opponent in the past two seasons.
