Sophomore guard Mark Butler had two free throws to go up against Penn on Tuesday with two and a half seconds remaining in the game.
Before he stepped up to the line, freshman guard Caleb Williams pulled him aside.
“I told him that he’s my brother, I love him,” Williams said.
Butler sunk both free throws, securing the men’s basketball team’s first win of the season in its first home game.
The Leopards (1-2 overall) finished up its Philadelphia-area out-of-conference swing last week, falling to LaSalle University (3-0 overall) 81-60 last Saturday and topping the University of Pennsylvania (2-1 overall) 65-63.
The Maroon and White fell behind early against LaSalle on Saturday, going down by as many as 19 points in the first half. They brought it down to a 17-point, 45-28 deficit going into the locker room, and cut the deficit to 12 after junior guard Ryan Pettit sunk a 3-pointer with 17:20 to go.
However, the Explorers halted the Leopards’ momentum and maintained a commanding lead through the rest of the game to close it out 81-60. Senior guard Devin Hines led the Maroon and White in scoring with 17 points.
The Leopards rebounded against Penn on Tuesday, gutting out a low-scoring, physical game to earn their first win of the season.
With Hines and senior center Justin Vander Baan out with injuries, the bench rotated in throughout the first half, keeping up a frenetic pace.
“Obviously, we want them out there, but they’re still trying to get healthy,” Pettit said. “Our mentality is still the same. We’re gonna play fast, we’re gonna attack you and we’re just gonna out-tough you every single time down the court.”
The Maroon and White were not afraid to play a physical game, forcing five first-half turnovers and locking down the defensive boards, outrebounding Penn 14-10 on defense in the first half. Pettit set the defensive pace for the Leopards, notching three first-half steals.
After a last-second three from freshman guard Alex Chaikin, the Leopards took a 29-23 lead into the half.
Williams sank another three coming out of the locker room to stretch the Leopards’ lead to nine, their largest of the day.
“Coach McGarvey and the rest of the coaching staff and my team put a lot of trust in me,” Williams said. “Now it’s just time for me to lace them up and hit them shots in the game when we need them, and that’s what I did today.”
The Maroon and White kept up their pressure on defense, toeing the line between being aggressive and losing control. Pettit was assessed a flagrant foul on a review after he collided with a Penn player chasing an offensive rebound, which sent both players to the floor.
“I’m completely fine throwing my body around regardless of how it feels the next day, but it just comes down to a team win,” Pettit said.
The Quakers began to shift the momentum, scoring 10 unanswered points to take their first lead of the night with 14:51 to play.
The Leopards continued to rack up fouls, putting Penn in the bonus with 11 minutes left to play. However, the Quakers struggled from the free-throw line throughout the game, shooting an abysmal 58.3%.
With over seven minutes left to play, Pettit got under a leaping Penn player fighting for a rebound. Both players hit the deck, and Pettit was again assessed a flagrant foul, forcing him to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines.
“It’s a first for me,” Pettit said about his two fragrant fouls. “I’ve never had that before, but they stepped up and they had my back at the end of the day, and that’s what your team’s for.”
With Pettit out for the game, Williams stepped up, sinking two crucial three-pointers down the stretch. He led the team with 17 points, setting a new career best.
Butler said the team’s “next man up mentality” allowed the Leopards to transition in the absence of Hines, Vander Baan and Pettit at the end of the game.
“How about that kid stepping up?” Butler said about Williams.
The freshmen on the whole had an impressive showing, with 34 combined points.
“We don’t see them as freshmen, they’re just our teammates,” Butler added.
With 15 seconds remaining, the Leopards got the ball in Butler’s hands. He stalled, then drove in the paint, drawing a shooting foul and two free throws with two seconds on the clock.
With two shots to all but win the game, Butler said he imagined “nobody’s in the gym.”
“It’s like I’m practicing every day,” Butler said. “I shoot free throws every day. I make them every day.”
Sophomore guard Joshua Wyche stole the Quakers’ full-court inbound attempt, sealing the first win of the season for the Maroon and White.
The Leopards will travel to Ithaca, New York, on Saturday to face another Ivy League opponent in Cornell (2-1 overall).
