The Penn men's basketball team scored an impressive 25-point win at Princeton to take the Ivy League championship. PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Penn men's basketball team isn't going to get a spring break. Instead, the Quakers will be preparing for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years -- 20 years after Penn's only Final Four appearance. By defeating Princeton 73-48 at Jadwin Gymnasium last night, Penn won the Ivy League championship outright for the first time since 1995. The victory came just three weeks after Princeton staged the fourth-largest comeback in NCAA history, defeating Penn 50-49 at the Palestra after trailing by 27 points in the second half. "What happened at the Palestra happens every two or three years in college basketball and it happened to us," senior forward Jed Ryan said. "We regrouped, we came back and we did exactly what we had to do to win the league." The game started out nip and tuck, with both teams trading blows in the first half. The Tigers managed to stay even with the Quakers until Penn junior guard Michael Jordan drained a three-point shot at the end of the first half to put Penn up 29-26 -- a lead the Quakers never relinquished. With the Quakers' second-half meltdown last month fresh in their minds, Penn blew the game open when they returned from the locker rooms after the half. The Quakers started the half with a 15-2 run and jumped out to a 44-28 lead with 12:20 to go in the game. But unlike their last meeting, Penn kept playing aggressively and kept the pressure on the Tigers. Slicing through the Princeton press that gave them so much trouble at the Palestra, the Quakers took advantage of a series of easy buckets and increased their lead to 19 points with just six minutes to go. When third-year Princeton coach Bill Carmody called a 20-second timeout with 5:46 remaining, even the Princeton faithful knew that their three-year stranglehold on the Ivy League title had disappeared. As waves of Tigers fans made their way to the exits, Penn held on to its lead -- eventually increasing it to 25 by making 8-of-9 foul shots in the final 3:15 of the game. Princeton freshman center Chris Young, who led all scorers with 17 points, fouled out with 2:40 remaining as the vocal minority of Quakers fans in Jadwin Gymnasium began chanting "Ivy Champs." As time ran down, the Penn fans gathered behind the west basket and spilled out onto the Jadwin floor at the final buzzer. Before a dejected crowd of orange-and-black-clad Princeton supporters, members of the Penn team took turns cutting down the net in celebration. "This is one of the greatest moments in my life," said Jordan, who wore the net around his neck after the game. "I haven't been to [the NCAA Tournament] since I've been in college and I just can't wait to experience it." Jordan, one of the leading candidates for Ivy League Player of the Year, is not alone --Eno player on Penn's squad has ever advanced to the Big Dance, making last night's victory twice as nice, according to senior forward Paul Romanczuk, who racked up 13 points and six rebounds. "We've worked so hard for four years," Romanczuk said. "It's incredible just to get one [Ivy title] and to finish out a career winning a championship." A highlight of the game was the gutsy play of Penn junior center Geoff Owens, who recorded 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots --Ewhile playing with a broken jaw that was wired shut last week, and, in the final minutes of the game, a large cut above his right eye from an elbow to the face by Princeton senior forward Gabe Lewullis. The rout was yet another surprise in an Ivy basketball season that was full of them. After Princeton dealt the Quakers the crushing 50-49 loss at the Palestra, the Tigers moved in to the driver's seat in the Ivy title race. But Princeton's losses to lowly Harvard and Yale -- the Tigers' first Ivy defeats since 1996 -- knocked the Tigers down to the second spot and put the Quakers, who swept their remaining seven Ivy games en route to a 13-1 conference record, into first place alone for the first time in four years. "A lot of people wrote us off and said, 'Penn could never bounce back from [the loss],'" Jordan said. "So we showed everyone they were wrong." With the win, the Quakers avoided a one-game playoff to decide which team would get the automatic NCAA invitation. In 1996, Princeton beat Penn, 63-56, in overtime in a one-game playoff which began the Tigers' three-year hold on the title and ended Penn's early '90s dominance. Last night marked the 200th meeting in the Ivy League's most significant men's basketball rivalry. The Quakers improved to 107-93 overall against their New Jersey neighbors. The two powers have now combined for 34 of the last 37 Ivy League titles, making their twice-annual meetings among the most important regular season matchups in college basketball, with an NCAA berth hinging on them. "I love the excitement, I love the intensity, I love the way everybody who's ever been to Penn or Princeton cares about this game wherever they are," Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans said. "I love the fact that it's great basketball and two coaches and two teams that really respect each other." The NCAA selects and seeds teams this Sunday for its 64-team tournament. Penn receives an automatic bid to the tournament by virtue of winning its conference. Possible first-round destinations for the game, which would be played on either March 11 or March 12, include cities such as Charlotte, N.C., Boston and Seattle.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.