When the final seconds expired in the Penn men's basketball team's 83-59 loss to Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., tonight, the Ivy League had its 2009 champion. Thanks to a Princeton loss at Columbia, the Big Red's win gave them the outright Ivy League crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Cornell has now won back-to-back Ivy League championships.
Ryan Wittman scored 25 points in front of a home crowd for the Big Red, who will host Princeton tomorrow to close out their season. Three other Cornell players scored in double digits.
Freshman Rob Belcore led the Quakers in scoring with 16 points, while Brennan Votel and Zack Rosen netted 10 apiece. Tyler Bernardini, whose playing status was questionable with a concussion, did not play.
Penn takes on Columbia tomorrow night in New York before closing out its season at home Tuesday against rival Princeton.
