| |
1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Penn (19-7, 11-1 Ivy) |
33 |
24 |
57 |
| Yale (15-13, 7-6 Ivy) |
21 |
34 |
55 |
|
|
| |
| Lee Amphitheater – New Haven, CT |
Boxscore |
| |
|
| |
| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
After leading by double figures almost the entire game and by as much as 18 in the second half, Penn went cold in the final seven minutes. Yale was able to trim a double-digit deficit down to two with just over a minute remaining, and the Bulldogs had the ball in the final minute with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Ibby Jaaber came up with a steal. At the other end, Brian Grandieri missed a layup with the shot clock running down, but Mark Zoller collected the offensive rebound and Yale was forced to foul Steve Danley. Danley coolly knocked down both free throws to give Penn a 57-53 lead with just 11 seconds left. |
| Key sign it was over |
Down four with 11 seconds on the clock, it took Yale nearly ten seconds to get a bucket, with Ross Morin eventually hitting a jumper with just 1.9 seconds left. Grandieri tried a long inbounds pass, but it sailed over Eric Osmudson and Dominick Martin intercepted it at halfcourt. Martin found Eric Flato at the top of the, but Flato had to rush the potential game-winner and missed wide right, giving Penn a share of the Ivy League title. |
| Key performance |
Zoller had a huge first half with 12 points and nine rebounds and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and four steals. He also had the key offensive rebound late in the game with Penn clinging to the two-point lead. |
| Key statistic |
Penn’s 10-0 edge in fastbreak points. Early in each half the Quakers got out and ran, hurting the Bulldogs in transition. A steal and dunk by Jaaber and a fastbreak layup by Osmundson on consecutive possessions early in the second half gave Penn its largest lead of the night at 18 with 15:56 left. |
|
| |
| |
| Notes |
| – |
With Princeton’s loss at Brown, Penn clinched the Ivy League title outright and became the first team to earn a spot in this season’s Field of 65. The NCAA Tournament appearance will be Penn’s sixth in the last eight seasons. |
| |
| – |
With Friedrich Ebede and Tommy McMahon out, Fran Dunphy turned to senior walk-on Greg Kuchinski for five minutes of action in the frontcourt. Kuchinski missed his only field goal attempt and committed a pair of turnovers, but did grab a pair of defensive boards. |
| |
| – |
The win was just the second for Penn at Lee Amphitheater in the last five seasons. |
| |
| – |
Martin continued his strong play with a game-high 18 points. The senior added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks for the Bulldogs. |
| |
| – |
With Dunphy going with a short bench, Yale’s bench outscored its Penn counterparts 19 to 5. Morin was the high scorer among Bulldog reserves with 12 points, all of which came in the second half |
| |
| – |
Eric Flato had a strong game for Yale with 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the arc and six assists. |
| |
| – |
Penn shot just 5 of 11 from the free throw line. The Quakers were 1 of 5 in the first half, including a missed front end of a one-and-one by Eric Osmundson. |
| |
| – |
Penn scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer by Osmundson 94 seconds into the contest and the game was never tied again. Yale never led at any point on the evening. |
|
