1994-95 IVY LEAGUE M. HOOPS STANDINGS: Quakers try to clinch third straight Ivy title tonight

Five seniors to bid Palestra adieu against Yale Saturday This may be the first time the Penn men's basketball team has not looked forward to a game. At least that's how it is for the Quakers' five seniors. All starters. All destined for greatness -- maybe even recognition as the greatest class in Penn basketball history. As these five step onto the Palestra floor for the last time tomorrow night at 7 p.m., basketball may be the last thing on their minds. After four years of playing and fighting and struggling, Senior Night will be filled with emotion and triumph. They all took different roads to get here. Jerome Allen and Eric Moore, teammates at Episcopal Academy, brought that same championship spirit to the Palestra. Shawn Trice turned down multiple scholarship offers for the opportunity to be a Quaker. Scott Kegler dreamed of playing for Ohio State, but now he would have it no other way. And Matt Maloney added the final piece to a magnificent puzzle when he transferred from Vanderbilt. But after the Quakers host Brown tonight (7 p.m., Palestra, WXPN 88.5-FM), when they will have the opportunity to clinch the second spot in the NCAA tournament after UCLA did it two nights ago, there will be only one home game left in these five players' illustrious careers. Tomorrow night against Yale, Allen, Moore, Trice, Kegler and Maloney will play their last game on the hardwood on which they have gone 40-6 during their four years here. "I can't start thinking about it yet," Kegler said. "It's going to be real sad. It's going to be real emotional. I think I'll be feeling a lot of that Saturday night when we suit up for the last time here." Before the Quakers (19-5, 11-0 Ivy League) can turn their attention to the seniors' final game on the famed Palestra hardwood, Penn faces a tough Brown squad (13-11, 8-4) that has recently been decimated by injuries. Brian Lloyd, the Bears' second-leading scorer who poured in 35 points in two games last weekend, will be sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury last Saturday. This comes just one week after Brown's other star guard, Eric Blackiston, broke his arm. And with Penn beating Ivy League opponents by an average margin of 23 points, the Quakers are looking forward to clinching the Ivy crown for the third consecutive season tonight. "It will be fun," Kegler said. "Our goal, however, is not just to clinch. We want to go 14-0 [in the Ivies] again. But if we win this weekend, it will be a great feeling because we'll be in the tournament." And then the emotional roller coaster will really begin. With pregame ceremonies planned to honor the graduating Quakers tomorrow night, feelings and memories should explode as the five seniors play in their final game in the Palestra. Although Yale (9-15, 5-7) is the official opponent, the greater obstacle may be just holding the emotions inside for 40 minutes of basketball. "With Senior Night, it's an end of an era," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I've not allowed myself to think about it. We've got a lot of unfinished business here still. I don't allow myself to think about what it's going to be like without these guys, because hopefully we've still got a lot more games with them." The last regular season game these five seniors will play is Wednesday, when Penn visits Princeton (8:30 p.m., ESPN2, WXPN 88.5-FM). With a national audience watching the first televised Ivy clash in years, Penn is not afraid of a letdown, even after such an emotional weekend. The Quakers spanked the Tigers by 19 points at the Palestra in January and want to be at their best going into the NCAA tournament. "We're playing at their place in the last game of the season. I think we'll be ready," Maloney said. "We've been through this before and we know what to expect." After winning 40 consecutive Ivy League games, why should anyone have reason to doubt him? No one has gone three straight years undefeated in conference play since UCLA in the early 1970s, so now the Quakers are not just playing for wins. They're playing for a place in history.

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