M. Hoops | Spoiler alert

This wasn't how Kevin Egee imagined his senior year ending.

Considering Penn made the NCAA Tournament in both his freshman and sophomore years, the Quakers' 9-16 (5-6 Ivy) record isn't exactly what Egee - and fellow active seniors Cam Lewis and Brennan Votel - had in mind for their final season in Red and Blue.

So as the team ends its 2008-09 campaign over spring break with games at Cornell and Columbia this weekend and Senior Night Tuesday against Princeton at the Palestra, the Class of 2009 isn't exactly focusing on an NCAA bid.

"I just hope we can end on a winning note and restore some pride back into the program," Egee said. "It means everything to me."

For Lewis, the Princeton game will be the last memory of his collegiate career. But he admitted these final few games are not just about the outgoing seniors.

"It's not really so much for us as for the younger guys," the forward said. "It's about building . for next season. It really does help the younger guys to get that winning feeling back."

Unfortunately for Penn, getting that feeling back might be easier said than done. The Big Red (19-9, 9-3) are the class of the Ivy League and can clinch at least a share of the title with a win over the Quakers.

The only team with a realistic shot of dethroning Cornell is the Tigers (12-12, 7-4), who will play in Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday in a de facto Ivy League championship game.

And while the Lions (11-15, 6-6) have been eliminated from title contention, they did beat Penn, 74-63, at the Palestra a month ago.

At the same time, the Quakers are unfazed. They've already beaten Princeton in New Jersey, and Cornell has lost two of its last four.

As sophomore Harrison Gaines pointed out, the three teams that beat Cornell - Princeton, Yale and most recently Harvard - all have lost to the Quakers at some point this season.

"They're vulnerable," Gaines said of the Big Red.

That may be the case, but so far in his young career, Gaines has never seen the Quakers beat the Big Red, as the team has gone 0-3 against them since the Class of 2011 appeared on campus. Similarly, the club lost at Columbia last year.

If the Quakers want to reverse their poor trends in the Empire State, they'll have to do a better job in the paint than they did four weeks ago. Against the Lions they gave up 32 points down low, as Columbia forward Jason Miller had a game-high 21 points.

Coach Glen Miller said the key to improving defensively on the blocks was being more physical, especially in denying entry passes.

The Red and Blue see some positives from the previous matchups against these teams. Lewis said he thought the team did a good job focusing against Princeton's patience-trying offense in their 62-55 Feb. 17 win at Jadwin Gymnasium.

And against Cornell, Miller mixed up the starting lineup, giving Penn a spark that led to a 15-8 Penn lead with 13:43 to go in the first half of the game.

"We came out strong last time [against Cornell]," Gaines said. "If we play with the same intensity as we did at the start, then we can be beat them. But we need that same intensity."

The Quakers might not be playing for seeding as they did when the current seniors were freshmen and sophomores. Instead, the team still has an opportunity to ruin at least one team's chances of winning the league.

Miller, for his part doesn't necessarily see things that way.

"We have more pride than to just be a spoiler," he said.

- Senior Staff Writer David Bernstein contributed reporting to this article.

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