The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team nearly pulled out a win that would have been nothing short of miraculous, but instead it was Harvard that came up with the final miracle of the night and the result was a 79-78 Crimson victory Saturday night at The Palestra.

  Penn made up a 17-point deficit and had a five-point lead and the ball with only 33 seconds left. However, Harvard was able to make up the deficit when Evan Nelson corralled a loose ball and drained a three-pointer with just 1.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Penn led twice but it was the Crimson that scored four of the final five points—all of them on Robert Hinton foul shots—and when Penn was unable to finish three contested finishes on its final possession Harvard had escaped with the one-point victory.

  Penn is now 7-17 overall and 3-8 in Ivy play. Harvard kept its Ivy League Tournament hopes alive at 5-6 and is 10-14 overall.

 
*This was Penn's first overtime game since December 23 of last season and the 22nd in the Steve Donahue coaching era.

  *For the second straight night, Penn hit 32 field goals which is tied for the team high this season.

  *Penn once again dominated the points in the paint numbers, with a 58-28 advantage over the Crimson.

  *Penn outrebounded Harvard on the night, 36-32, and had a 10-4 advantage in second-chance points.

  *The 17-point deficit that Penn made up matched its biggest comeback this season; the Quakers were down 17 in the season opener at NJIT but came back to win by one.

  *One night after tying his career high with 23 points, senior Nick Spinoso—who was celebrated prior to the game along with classmates Reese McMullen and George Smith—topped it with 24 on Saturday. He had another strong night from the field (11-17) and also tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds.

  *Sophomore Sam Brown scored 19 points, 12 of them in the second half, and tied for the team lead with three assists.

  *Sophomore Augustus Gerhart scored 12 points, a career high, going 4-5 from the field and 4-5 at the foul line.

  *Junior Ethan Roberts extended his double-figure scoring streak to 17 with 11 points and added five boards.

  *In his final home game, Smith scored eight points and added three rebounds and two assists.

  *Harvard got 22 points from Hinton, who led five Crimson players in double figures; he also had eight rebounds and three assists. Thomas Batties II finished with 15 points while Chandler Pigge added 14, Austin Hunt had 13, and Nelson chipped in with 10 including the heroic triple.

 
This will appear later tonight.

 
Penn is on the road for its final three games, starting next weekend in New York when the Quakers face Cornell on Friday (7 p.m.) and Columbia on Saturday (6 p.m.).

  For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.

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