SI Update

Herb Magee
SCORECARD, DEC. 25, 2006

OF THE 829 winsin Herb Magee's career, few were stranger than his most recent—which was alsohis most historic, since it moved him past Clarence (Big House) Gaines on thealltime Division II victories list. On paper, last Thursday's game betweenMagee's Philadelphia University and Wilmington College looked like a blowout.Philadelphia was 15--5, Wilmington 0--20. What's more, the game, originallyscheduled at the Wildcats' gym, which holds only 400, was moved to Philadelphiato accommodate the large crowd expected because of Magee's impending milestone.In the end 1,266 fans, including many of Magee's former players, saw historymade. Barely.

Wilmington ledmost of the game before the Rams forced overtime and eked out a 65--60 win."The players got caught up in the hype," Magee said. "They triedtoo hard early." Hype is something Magee (above) has never had much usefor. He has spent his entire 40-year coaching career at Philadelphia, passingup higher profile jobs because he's content at his alma mater. After the gamehe seemed relieved that his pursuit of Gaines—and the notoriety thataccompanied it—had come to an end. He was happiest when he left the gym tocelebrate privately. "It's a great night for me," Magee told thePhiladelphia Daily News. "I get to spend the night with my family, and mygranddaughters get to hang with Pops."

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TOM MIHALEK/AP (MAGEE)