M. Hoops falls to Princeton in OT

The Quakers traveled to Hanover, N.H., last Friday eager to sweep their final Ivy League weekend of the season.

Despite a slow start at Dartmouth, the Red and Blue pulled away late in the first half, heading into the break with a 39-25 advantage.

The Big Green was unable to put together a comeback in coach Dave Faucher's penultimate Dartmouth contest, finally succumbing to the Quakers, 81-59.

Penn used the first-half perimeter shooting of Tim Begley to set the tone. The junior paced the Quakers with four three-pointers in the first half en route to an 18-point performance on the night.

Freshman Mark Zoller logged 13 points and six rebounds, as well as a 5-for-5 performance from the free-throw line. Senior Jeff Schiffner finished with 12 points and six assists.

Dartmouth freshman standout Leon Pattman led the Big Green effort with 14 points.

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The Quakers held a slim 30-26 halftime lead at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion the following night.

But the Red and Blue proved to be too strong for the Crimson in the second half, making 63 percent of their shots in the final frame en route to a 77-56 victory.

Begley scored a game-high 17 points. The guard shot 6-for-11 from the field and 5-for-9 from beyond the three-point line, hitting his last five shots from downtown.

Freshman guard Ibby Jaaber scored six of Penn's last 12 points and finished the night with 11 points total.

Senior Adam Chubb recorded his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points while grabbing 10 boards.

Schiffner also scored in double digits on the night, tallying 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

Junior guard Kevin Rogus and freshman guard Jim Goffredo led the Crimson with 13 points each.

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It was not the way Penn's three seniors wanted to remember their final regular season game.

Despite a Tim Begley buzzer-beating tip-in to send the game into overtime, the Quakers (17-10, 10-4 Ivy) fell to Princeton (20-7, 13-1) in the extra frame, 76-70, at the Palestra.

"We didn't trust in our teammates enough and we panicked a little bit," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

Penn led, 31-29, heading into halftime thanks to another last-second Begley shot -- this time a three-pointer with five seconds left.

But the Tigers battled back and took a 58-56 lead with 3:19 remaining off a Scott Greenman three. Princeton maintained the lead until the final second of regulation.

Penn had the ball and called a timeout with 15 seconds left, trailing 61-59.

The Quakers ran a set play in which Jaaber set up junior guard Eric Osmundson for a baseline jumper to tie the game. Osmundson's shot was no good, as was Chubb's putback layup. However, Begley was able to tip in the Chubb miss with .6 seconds left, tying the game at 61.

But Penn was simply outplayed in overtime, as Princeton shot 4-for-5 while the Quakers shot just 3-for-8.

"We didn't do a good job on the defensive side all throughout overtime," Dunphy said.

The game's leading scorer was Princeton junior center Judson Wallace, who tallied 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Chubb was Penn's leading scorer and rebounder, earning a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

Schiffner struggled in his final regular season game, shooting just 1-for-5 from the three-point line and finishing with nine points.

This was the first overtime game between the two schools since March 3, 1998, when Princeton defeated Penn, 78-72, at the Palestra.

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