Ivy League Roundup: Harvard beats Penn, moves into first-place tie with Quakers

The logjam that had five teams tied for third place was reduced to just a pair on Saturday, leaving Brown and Yale rounding out the top four at 4-4 each.

Perhaps more notable when the dust cleared is that the only undefeated team in the Ivy (Penn) lost for the first time and the one without a win (Dartmouth) got its initial victory.

Following are the capsule reports.

Harvard 76, Penn 67

Harvard made it six out of seven in the victory column, but more importantly moved into a first-place tie with previously undefeated Penn, beating the Quakers 76-67 on its home floor in Cambridge, MA. The Crimson led by 15 at the half and 52-38 with 12:20 remaining. Penn closed to 70-63 with 2:32 showing on the clock.

 

Harvard’s Chris Lewis, on 10 of 14 shooting, scored a career-high 25. Seth Towns had 17. The Quakers were led by Ryan Betley’s 16.

 

With a 4 pm tipoff, it was a quick turnaround requiring two games in less than 24 hours for both teams. The attendance of 1,636 was the largest to see an Ivy game on Saturday.

 

Dartmouth 72, Princeton 56

What could turn out to be the upset of the year in the Ivy League took place in Hanover, NH, where Dartmouth (1-7) handed defending champion Princeton (3-5) its fourth straight loss, 72 to 56. In doing so, Dartmouth ended its losing streak of 10 games, seven in league play.

 

Although Princeton had a one-point lead at the half, the Big Green stayed with the Tigers and moved to a 47-45 advantage with 10:58 remaining in the game. It was all Dartmouth from there on. Taylor Johnson was 7 of 9 from the field and finished with 21 points.

 

The home crowd of 1,396 was treated to 47 percent shooting while Princeton hit 40 percent.

 

Key for Dartmouth was a 43-23 rebounding dominance. Devin Cannady was Princeton’s best but only with 12 points.

 

Yale 74, Cornell 65

Yale (4-4) led all the way but Cornell (3-5) made things interesting by inching up to 59-55 with four minutes remaining. Yale made nine out of 10 from the foul line in the last 90 seconds.

 

Miye Oni scored 19 for the Bulldogs and Stone Gettings 20 for Cornell. Yale (11 of 28) outshot the Big Red (4 out of 16) from behind the arc.

 

There were 1,514 on hand at the John J. Lee Amphitheater inside the historic Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

According to a report during the game by announcer John Ryan on the Ivy League Network, Yale could have the return next weekend of heralded Mikai Mason, out with injuries for the better part of two seasons.

 

Brown 91, Columbia 88

Brown (4-4) won its second in three overtime games this season, a 91-88 victory over Columbia (3-5). Freshman sensation Desmond Cambridge scored 23 points, the seventh time with 20 or more. The previous night Cambridge had 26. He thus finished with a 49 point weekend.

 

Columbia had three with 20 or more, Mike Smith (22), Gabe Stefanini (20) and Lukas Meisner (20), but still fell short for a 0-2 weekend.

 

Brown’s winning basket was Obi Okolie’s 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Tamenang Choh of a missed foul shot with nine seconds left in OT.

 

Brown and Yale are now in a third-place tie. Tonight’s game at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence drew 1,296.

 

IVY LEAGUE HOOP STANDINGS

(through Feb. 10, 2018)

 

                              Won – Lost     

Penn (17-7)                 7-1

Harvard (13-11)           7-1

Brown (11-10)              4-4

Yale (11-13)                 4-4

Columbia (6-15)           3-5

Cornell (9-12)               3-5

Princeton (11-12)          3-5

Dartmouth (5-17)          1-7

 

 

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