A dominant second-half performance propelled Penn to a 66-49 win over Cornell Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. But the bigger news came from New England where Harvard defeated Yale who was in second place in the Ivy League going into Friday, handing Penn at least a share of the league crown. Now, the Quakers closest competition has at least five losses. The Red and Blue (16-8, 9-1 Ivy) can clinch the Ivy title outright and the league's coveted NCAA Tournament slot with a win over Columbia Saturday in New York. Sophomores led the way for Penn as Ibby Jaaber posted 14 points, and Steve Danley and Mark Zoller each had 10. Freshman David Whitehurst made is first career start in place of Eric Osmundson. The 6-foot-3 guard scored eight points in 27 minutes. Osmundson came off the bench to add nine points. The Quakers stretched an eight-point halftime lead to 20 with 10 minutes to play and coasted from there. Penn finished the night shooting an even 50 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, Cornell managed just 35 percent including 4-of-18 from three-point range. Adam Naeve paced the Big Red with 10 points.
Elsewhere in the league, Dartmouth held on to beat Brown at home, 66-64, and while Princeton was victorious over Columbia in Manhattan, 68-59, the six-loss Tigers were eliminated from title contention.
Win and they're in Penn needs to win one of the next four to advance to the NCAA Tournament: at Columbia - Sat. Feb. 26 vs Dartmouth - Fri. March 4 vs Harvard - Sat. March 5 at Princeton - Tues. March 8 Who's out These teams have been eliminated from Ivy title contention: Columbia (3-8) Brown (3-7) Princeton (4-6)
