Winning in the clutch

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Penn men's basketball team did not just beat two opponents this weekend, it demoralized them. "I feel real empty right now," Yale forward Justin Simon said after Saturday night's 80-75 loss. "We're still in a race for postseason play, maybe the NIT," Brown coach Glen Miller said after Friday's 69-65 loss. Making two teams that had aspirations of ending the Penn-Princeton stranglehold on the Ivy title think about next year or the NIT wasn't easy, but the results are conclusive. After winning two nailbiters over the weekend, the Quakers are now in a position to capture an NCAA Tournament automatic berth. If Penn beats Columbia and Cornell at the Palestra next weekend, the Quakers clinch the Ivy League outright. Friday night's game against Brown saw the Quakers face a tough crowd, which had alumnus Chris Berman introduce the players and the 2,800 fans almost wholly in favor of the Bears. The Bears rode that to an early 13-8 lead, but the Quakers scored 12 straight to take a six-point edge. From that point on it was back and forth, with Penn holding a 40-38 edge at the break. Penn's big men dominated the inside game in the first half, outscoring the Bears, 20-8, in the lane. Although the Quakers shot 66.7 percent in the half, they also turned it over 10 times. They would repeat that number in the second half. "Twenty turnovers is uncharacteristic of our team," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. The Quakers went on a run early in the second half, scoring the first 10 and holding the Bears scoreless for almost six minutes. During the first five minutes of the second half, the Quakers outrebounded Brown, 8-1. They held a 30-25 advantage for the game. "They go on runs all the time," Miller said. "You just have to get through them. I tried to use timeouts, and our team did a nice job of fighting back." Penn senior forward Koko Archibong was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including two big three- pointers in the second half, to lead the Quakers. Brown's Earl Hunt scored 26 -- 20 coming in the second half -- to lead all scorers. "Koko was real keyed up," Penn's Andrew Toole said. "He's tired of not playing his best... he played like a man every minute he was out there." The Bears had two chances to tie it at 68 in the final seconds. Patrick Powers had a clean look at a three from the top of the key with 18 seconds left, but it rolled in and out. After an offensive rebound, Hunt had a not-as-good look from the corner that missed, and Jeff Schiffner grabbed the rebound. Schiffner, who had 13 points, hit the first free throw to ice the game. "That three felt good leaving my hands," Powers said. "I was ready to go down the floor and play defense. Can't ask for any more of a good look." Against Yale on Saturday, the first half was a near recreation the previous night's opening stanza, with the teams battling back and forth and the Quakers shooting well (53.8 percent), but turning it over 10 times again. "That's not something we should be very proud of," Dunphy said. "We can't turn it over 10 times [in the first half]." Yale scored the last five points of the first -- including an Alex Gamboa driving layup as time expired -- and the first six of the second to take a 46-40 lead. With Archibong in foul trouble, Adam Chubb came off the bench to score 14 points and nine rebounds in just 14 minutes of playing time. Similarly, Yale's Simon scored 18 points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Elis. Penn pulled ahead for good on a thunderous Chubb follow dunk with just over five minutes left in the game. "Great effort by him," Dunphy said. "He was a key ingredient to our winning the game, no question." With Penn up three with just over two minutes to play, Ugonna Onyekwe faked inside and kicked it out to an open Archibong, who nailed a three to put Penn up by six. The Elis stayed close, but six straight Schiffner free throws iced the win. Schiffner had a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers. Although the crowd at Payne Whitney gym was not as fanatic as the one last season, the Quakers still fought off a boisterous, albeit late-arriving, crowd. It was two big wins in front of two pumped up, hostile crowds -- perhaps a perfect primer for how to get into the Big Dance. News and Notes Penn coach Fran Dunphy-- along with coaches, announcers and fans across the country -- wore a bow tie on Saturday night in honor of longtime bow tie-clad Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan, who coached his last game after 49 years that night. Both are graduates of La Salle, albeit years apart... Chris Berman announced Patrick Powers before the game as "Patrick 'Austin' Powers"... Glen Miller offered no comment to The Daily Pennsylvanian about the referees after Friday night's loss.

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