With two wins over the weekend, the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team wrapped up its second consecutive Ivy League championship -- its sixth in 10 years and its 20th in the last 31 campaigns.
The Quakers took the Ivy title with 13 wins in 13 games. The team will attempt to complete the perfect season tonight versus Princeton.
The Tigers, who were Penn's only pursuers, also won both of their weekend contests, but will be playing only for the dim hope of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid at the Palestra this evening.
Penn 85, Brown 62
The Quakers assured themselves of at least a tie for the League title with a win at home Friday night. Penn's backcourt of senior point guard Michael Jordan and senior shooting guard Matt Langel accounted for 35 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists.
In perhaps his best game of the season, Penn center Geoff Owens poured in 22 points on eight-of-11 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds. His stellar game made up for an off-night from freshman star Ugonna Onyekwe, who played only 18 minutes and scored seven points because of foul trouble.
The Quakers outshot their opponents 47 percent to 38 percent, including 11-of-23 three-pointers made to only three-of-13 for the Bears.
Penn also took away 11 steals in causing 20 Brown turnovers
The Bears were again led in scoring by freshman swingman Earl Hunt. Brown's leading scorer for the season knocked down 22 on eight-of-14 shooting.
However, Brown's other rookie sensation, center Alvai Nuualiitia, only scored five points in 24 minutes of action. The Bears' Jesse Wood added 16 points.
Princeton 56, Yale 46
Continuing its fall from the top half of the League, Yale dropped a close decision at Princeton Friday night. The Bulldogs led 18-17 at the half, but watched as hot Princeton shooting and solid ball movement allowed the Tigers to pull away in the end.
Princeton's star sophomore center Chris Young enjoyed played monster game, scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.
Small forward Ray Robins put in 16 and freshman swingman Spencer Gloger scored 12. The Tigers were credited with 16 assists on their 20 field goals.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball for much of the game -- Princeton and Yale combined for 11-of-36 shooting from three-point range. The Bulldogs only shot 29 percent from the field for the entire game.
Yale's young backcourt of stars, sophomore Onaje Woodbine and freshman Chris Leanza, went a combined nine-of-29 from the field while scoring 29 total points. No other Bulldog player put in more than six.
Harvard 61, Columbia 59
In an upset victory on the road Friday night, Harvard finally showed glimpses of the early-season promise that had been absent of late. The Crimson's Dan Clemente, who returned a month ago from an injury expected to keep him out for the season, led the team with 19 points in 40 minutes of play.
Freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman once again made a number of turnovers -- four of the team's 12 -- but chipped in 12 points and, most importantly, eight assists. Damian Long scored 18.
Columbia led by three, 31-28, at the half, but saw its lead slip away in the second. Only Joe Case of the Lions scored in double figures. He had 22.
Freshman center Chris Wiedmann pulled down 11 rebounds.
The Lions turned the ball over 16 times, including five times by captain Craig Austin. The team's typical scoring leader, Austin only dropped six points despite playing 31 minutes.
The loss put Columbia's third place spot in the Ivy League in jeopardy, though the team would redeem itself Saturday night versus Dartmouth.
Penn 69, Yale 52
Five Quaker players scored in double figures as Penn easily downed Yale to assure itself the outright Ivy League title. Onyekwe and Frank Brown, in his final collegiate home game, led the way with 16 points each.
Jordan and Langel scored 11 apiece and Owens had 10 to go along with seven rebounds.
For Yale, only five players actually scored points. Woodbine and Leanza accounted for 75 percent of the Bulldogs' offense, scoring 20 and 19 points.
Princeton 85, Brown 57
Brown's Nuualiitia disappeared for the second straight game, scoring only a single point, and seven Princeton players scored in double figures. Robins, C.J. Chapman, Spencer Gloger, Nate Walton, Eugene Baah, Chris Young and Ahmen El-Nokali all scored between 10 and 13 points in the romp.
The Tigers shot 56 percent from the floor. Young blocked six shots.
For Brown, Earl Hunt completed a fabulous freshman season with a 17-point, five-rebound performance. He is one of the Ivy League's rising stars.
Harvard 74, Cornell 60
Damian Long scored 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Clemente added 13 in the Crimson win. Prasse-Freeman dished 10 assists.
For Cornell, the surprising Derek Kruse had 15 points and nine rebounds. Forward Ray Mercedes scored 11.
Keirian Brown had 12 rebounds.
