Yale's early-season reign on top of the Ivy League was a short one.
The Penn men's basketball team completed its Ivy-home-opening weekend sweep with a 67-53 win over Harvard to take back its conference lead. The win moved the Quakers to 5-1 Ivy, while the Elis dropped their second game in the Ancient Eight (6-2) with a 1-point loss to Cornell.
While Penn (14-8, 5-1 Ivy) pulled away in the second half, the game was closer than the score indicated. Harvard's comeback bid in the second half seemed evident as it closed the gap to 6 with under 10 minutes to play, and had Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller in foul trouble for the home side. But some solid defense down the stretch, 18-for-21 total free-throw shooting and a balanced scoring attack saw Penn through with another home win.
It was the second-straight night where Penn saw four men in double-figures. Brennan Votel - normally used as a long defender for when Zoller or Stephen Danley get into foul trouble - scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, and believe it or not hit the only three-pointer for the Red and Blue. Zoller led Penn with 17 points and five assists, and Brian Grandieri missed eight shots, but still managed nine rebounds and three steals.
The Crimson had some bright spots - 15 offensive rebounds, 14 steals - but their 16 turnovers and 34 percent shooting were not good enough to beat the Ivy League-leading Quakers.
