Both teams scored a buzzer beater shot during the men's basketball game against Penn on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Bears, theirs came right before halftime, not at the end of regulation.
The Quakers' (2-14, 1-1 Ivy) Dan Monckton grabbed the ball after his teammate's desperate three-pointer fell short, and laid it in as the buzzer sounded to give the Bears (7-14, 1-3 Ivy) a crushing defeat, 55-54.
"Once I saw the ref's call, I was pretty excited," Monckton said.
The loss was the Bears' second in two nights, as they fell to Princeton, 63-46, the night before.
Brown 54, Penn 55
Monckton's last-second bucket was awash with controversy, as it was unclear whether the basket was made before the clock hit zero. But the shot was ultimately called good, sending the Quakers' bench into a frenzy as the Bears' coaching staff and players looked on in disbelief.
Though Ivy League rules allow video review, the referees could not utilize video technology to replay the last second of the game because the matchup was not televised.
Monckton's lay-in gave the Quakers their first lead since 16:32 remaining in the first half. The Bears got out to a 24-11 lead in the first half and held a nine-point advantage, 44-35, halfway through the second.
In the final minute, the Bears blew a five-point lead, which they earned after Tucker Halpern '13 broke the Quakers' press and found Adrian Williams '11 open downcourt for a layup, giving Brown a 52-47 advantage with just 45 seconds remaining.
But Brown opened the door for heartbreak with faulty free throw shooting. Both Peter Sullivan '11 and Halpern missed the front end of their one-and-ones in the final 13 seconds, and the Quakers took advantage of their last chance.
Despite the end result, the Bears got a strong performance from a usually unheralded player, Garrett Leffelman '11. Leffelman earned a starting position Saturday night and took advantage of the opportunity. He chipped in 10 points with three steals and only one turnover.
Brown 46, Princeton 63
In the first game of the weekend, the Bears were overmatched by the Princeton Tigers (11-5, 2-0 Ivy), 63-46. The Bears started the game shooting cold, giving the Tigers an early opportunity to pull away.
Brown missed seven field goals at the start of the game, Head Coach Jesse Agel said. "It wasn't nerves, I think we were just rushing them."
Led by guard Douglas Davis, who scored all of his game-high 16 points in the first half, the Tigers built a 40-18 halftime lead. The Bears made a paltry four field goals during the first 20 minutes, and headed into the locker room shooting just 22 percent from the field.
But Brown came out confidently for the second half and shot the ball better from both the field and the free-throw line.
"I was really impressed with our attitude," Agel said. "At halftime, we were still really excited to get out there and play better. If you don't do that, you lose by 40."
