Ivy roller coaster runs through Hanover

As individual records fall, the Penn men's basketball team finds itself controlling its own Ivy League destiny. The last eight days have been a roller-coaster ride for the Penn men's basketball team. A loss to Princeton temporarily dropped the Quakers to second place in the Ivy League, but a Princeton loss in double overtime at Yale restored the Quakers to a tie with their Old Nassau rivals for the top spot in the standings. With only five Ivy games and Big 5 foe Villanova remaining on their schedule, the Quakers' destiny is squarely back in their own hands -- a position of power and self-determination unfamiliar to most currently on the Penn roster. Nonetheless, the team is not looking very far ahead. "All we can look at is the opportunity we have this weekend to play Harvard and Dartmouth and do the very best we can, and hopefully our destiny will remain right where it is -- right in our own hands," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. The Quakers' players, echoing this view, are clearly relieved by the most recent turn of events. "All year we've just been taking it one game at a time and it rings true now more than ever," junior center Geoff Owens said. "But it's definitely a good feeling to know that we don't have to rely on what other teams do [to find out where we stand]." · This weekend will once again see the Quakers facing a streaking Dartmouth squad. Last weekend, Dartmouth swept both Cornell and Columbia for the second time this season. At 8-2 in the Ancient Eight, the Big Green are one of only three teams still alive and competing for the league title. Although this is a far cry from the Big Green's seventh-place performance last year, it remains to be seen how the team holds up during the stretch since it has not won an Ivy crown since the Eisenhower administration. · Milestones have been falling faster than goalposts this season for the Quakers. Earlier this year, in Penn's win over Drexel at the Palestra, senior forward Paul Romanczuk became the 26th player in Red and Blue history to top the 1,000 point plateau. Then Saturday, in the first half of the win over Yale, Quakers junior guard Michael Jordan became the 27th. "It's a great honor and accomplishment," Jordan said. The tri-captain added that he was happy to have reached the milestone quicker at Penn than he had at Abington Friends High School -- when much anticipation had preceded the netting of his 1,000 point early in his senior year. Up next for Jordan? By tallying only two more assists, Jordan can reach 300 for his career -- and become only the sixth player in Penn history to reach this magic number. · Not to be outdone by his classmate and roommate, junior center Owens is on pace to set some records of his own this season. With five blocks in the two wins last weekend, Owens now has 43 for the year. This puts him in third place in the Quakers single-season record book, behind only Hassan Duncombe with 51 and Tim Krug with 48. With six games remaining, it's within the realm of possibilities for Owens to break Duncombe's 10-year-old mark. But the 6'11" junior continues to walk a delicate line between aggressively stopping the big men of the other Ivy squads and keeping himself out of foul trouble. "Foul trouble is definitely a concern for me," said Owens, who averages over three fouls a game. "But I don't try to block everything -- just what I know I can block." · Also entering the record books is Quakers senior forward Jed Ryan. The tri-captain hit seven three-pointers against Yale -- matching the third-highest single-game total in Quakers history. Just as importantly, the 23 points scored by Ryan against the Elis represent a career-high for the three-year starter. "In year's past, I've always had decent offensive games against Yale," Ryan said. "It was surprising to get that many shots, and that many shots that went in. "I'm not sure if it was bad defense or just the fact that sometimes your shot feels like the basket is an ocean -- and that's kind of how it felt the other night." · Individual records and single-game marks aside, though, every game from here on out is critical for Penn. "We're going to Harvard Friday night and do what we have to do at Harvard and then go up to Dartmouth," Ryan said. "Dartmouth is playing real well but we're ready for them. We're getting focused, and we're playing well right now. Heading into their final road trip of the season with their destiny back in their own hands, the Quakers are excited, prepared and determined to notch their fifth Ivy weekend sweep of the year.

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