Ivy Hoops Roundup: March 1

Six weeks after it all started, here we are, awaiting the final weekend of the Ivy League. Much has changed, yet much remains the same. Harvard is now battling for its first-ever Ancient Eight title and NCAA tournament berth and and Dartmouth remains, well, Dartmouth.

After three years of chaos, the League has returned to some semblance of normalcy — Princeton sits in first place and the only thing out of whack is Penn’s current middle-of-the-pack status. And after last weekend, it’s not quite clear where anybody will end up.

Elis comin’. Your esteemed author took to Twitter hours before tipoff Saturday with a premonition. “Callin it now, Yale over Harvard,” he wrote in much less than 140 characters. Cash money.

Forty minutes and one layup by Jeremiah Kreisberg later, the Bulldogs (7-5 Ivy) knocked off Harvard, 70-69, giving Princeton a one-game cushion for the League lead. It was a team effort from the Elis, except for freshman Isaiah Salafia, the only Yale player to get in and not make a basket. But give him credit for one rebound.

Meanwhile, Harvard (10-2) star Keith Wright went 3-for-12 from the floor, which begs the question: how does one miss nine shots if they’re all in the paint?

Protect this house. Princeton (10-1) took a page out of the Under Armor book — with two wins at the intergalactic Jadwin Gymnasium this weekend, the Tigers closed out their last homestand a perfect 12-0 on their own turf. But it wasn’t without a scare.

Visiting Columbia (5-7) nearly pulled a Yale at Princeton, leading by one at the half and by as much as six late in the second period. But with that spotless home record on the line, the Tigers clamped down with a 20-point performance from Kareem Maddox on 7-for-13 shooting.

More from Yale. Despite beating Harvard on Saturday, a different Yale team (perhaps the JV squad?) showed up to play Dartmouth Friday. Yes, just 24 hours before knocking off the Crimson, Yale went into overtime with little old Dartmouth (1-11), eventually prevailing, 79-75. Senior Porter Braswell put in a game high 19 points in the win.

The Bulldogs now sit in third, with one more win than Penn (though the Quakers bested them twice), heading into their final weekend on the road in New York.

100-proof in Providence. Saturday night Brown (4-8) hit the century mark over Dartmouth, for what it’s worth, winning 100-76 in front of a rocking crowd of 1,076 at Brown’s Pizzitola Center.

Bears sharpshooter Adrian Williams — son of Redskins legendary quarterback Doug — had over a quarter of their offense, with a game-high 26 on 7-for-12 three point shooting. He finished with more points than minutes, and was one of five Bears to score in double figures.

But Friday night was a tough dose of reality for Brown as they hosted Harvard. After upsetting Princeton the previous weekend, there would be no such Bear hugging after the Crimson triumphed, 74-68. Sounds about right.

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