Bears shock Penn at Palestra

For the first time in 13 years the Brown Bears notched a win, 78-74, over Penn at the Palestra. Despite a Quakers' rally from 15 points down late in the second half, the Bears were able to close out the season-series sweep at the free-throw line where they had missed only once in 14 attempts.

Penn (12-9, 5-3 Ivy) trailed the entire second half, but a layup by freshman Ibby Jaaber cut the Brown lead to a single point, 74-73, with 46 seconds remaining to cap a 20-5 Quakers run. From then on, the Bears (11-11, 7-2) took control from the charity stripe. Junior Jason Forte -- who led all scorers with 29 points -- and senior Mike Martin each sank two from the line to give Brown the margin of victory. "Especially down the stretch they knocked down everything," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "There was a stretch there in the second half where we missed some foul shots that, as it turns out, we could have really used." Freshman Mark Zoller led the Quakers with a career-high 24 points -- including 19 in the first half -- and nine rebounds. Senior Adam Chubb also recorded a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Tim Begley, who was ranked third in the nation in three-point shooting going into the game, went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, snapping a 23-game run with at least one triple. Penn's guards managed only three points in the first half -- a foul shot from Jeff Schiffner and a basket by Eric Osmundson. "Sometimes these guys try so hard to do it by themselves," Dunphy said. "They're great guys ... but they just had one of those nights, and there's not much we can do about it." Schiffner hit his only three-pointer of the game with 5:54 remaining in the second half to start the Quakers' comeback and get the crowd on its feet. That shot gave the 6-foot-6 guard 1,000 career points for the Red and Blue. "The only thing we can hope to do is win every game from here on in," Dunphy said. "It does hurt, it does sting, and we have to see if we can't find a way to win tomorrow night." Penn hosts Yale at the Palestra at 8 p.m.

Notes: Schiffner is the 31st player in Penn history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. The Ivy League Player of the Week is also second on the Quakers' all-time three-pointer list with 205, 39 triples behind Matt Maloney. Brown last defeated the Quakers at the Palestra Jan. 11, 1991. Coincidentally, that was the last season the Bears swept Penn, as Brown prevailed 66-60 in Providence, R.I., Feb. 16.

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