Quakers contained in Connecticut; lose Ivy opener

Penn freshman Ibby Jaaber's floater with less than seven ticks left on the clock would have tied the game at 54. But much like many of the Quakers' shots against Yale, it rimmed out, taking with it Penn's hopes of extending its Ivy League winning streak to 24 games. The Quakers fell, 54-52, at the hands of an Elis team that had lost eight of its last nine games, including two Ancient Eight matchups with traveling partner Brown. With under 10 seconds remaining in the 52-52 game, Yale's Paul Vitelli drew a foul on a three-point shot from freshman Mark Zoller, his fifth of the game. Payne Whitney gym went quiet as Vitelli -- a 71 percent free-throw shooter -- drained two shots from the charity stripe to give the Elis the lead. The third shot -- following a Penn timeout -- clanged off the rim giving the Quakers a chance to tie or pull ahead in the final seconds. But Penn's offense, which had been stagnant for most of the game, could not convert at the other end. Junior Tim Begley led the way for the Red and Blue with 21 points, including four key three-pointers to keep Penn in the game. Senior swingman Jeff Schiffner was contained throughout the game, only attempting six shots -- one from long range. The Quakers finished the night 38.6 percent from the field. Yale jumped out to an early lead with a 9-0 run in the first half, but the Quakers answered with an 11-0 spurt of their own to pull within three at the intermission, 34-31. Foul shots provided a boost for Penn in the first half, but trailed off later in the game. Freshman Ryan Pettinella sank 5-of-6 from the line, and Begley dropped 5-of-7. The Quakers fall to 0-1 in Ivy play with the loss, their first conference defeat since losing to Yale on Feb. 6, 2002. Brown is next up on the calendar tonight at 7 in Providence, R.I. Yesterday's Ivy League games Princeton 64, Brown 49 Cornell 91, Harvard 79 Columbia 78, Dartmouth 42 Yale 54, PENN 52 Today's Ivy League games PENN at Brown, 7 p.m. Princeton at Yale, 7p.m. Columbia at Harvard, 7 p.m. Cornell at Dartmouth, 7 p.m.

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