Penn 68, Dartmouth 52, FINAL

 

Game Over: Penn pulls away late for its 10th Ivy win. Check back on DP.com for more details.

1:15 2nd half: Osmundson gets some cheers as he departs for the final time at home, and then Greg Kuchinski earns a roar as he hits a fadeaway in the lane.

3:44 2nd half: Some bad news for the Quakers: Danley left the game in between two free throws, and Zoller picked up his third foul. Penn may be forced to use more players. But on the plus side, Penn extended to its largest lead of the game at 16, before two Big Green free throws knocked the lead down to 14.

The Penn Band finally unveiled the CBS NCAA Tournament theme song, after reportedly learning it for the Princeton game. It wasn't bad, but they could use the three weeks until the Tournament starts.

7:55 2nd half: If Dartmouth wants to come back, this is some bad news: Two starters, Leon Pattman and Calvin Arnold, each have four fouls.

10:10 2nd half: By the way, the rollouts have returned tonight. The reason for their absence last night, according to Red and Blue Crew leader Brian Walsh, is that they ran out of spray paint, and then started making the rollouts with regular paint, but gave up when they did not have enough time to let the paint dry before the game last night. But they are back tonight, with what looks like regular paint.

11:11 2nd half: I think Dartmouth has missed about seven layups tonight, as the Quakers use some good transition offense to extend the lead to 12.

13:28 2nd half: Princeton leads Harvard 37-19 at the half. I'm not sure which is more embarrassing, that Harvard will be on its way to its seventh straight loss after being picked to finish second in the Ivies, or that Harvard allowed the Tigers to score 37 in a half. Princeton is coming in averaging 50.7 points per game.

15:24 2nd half: Penn's response to Dartmouth's challenge: A Jaaber layup, Osmundson three, and Jaaber fast-break dunk, forcing a Big Green timeout.

17:10, 2nd half: Whitehurst picks up his third foul on a three, which Mike Lang hits. The ensuing free throw makes it a three-point game.

Halftime stats: Most important stat of the night -- Jaaber's three steals give him 84 for the year, which breaks his one-year-old Ivy record for steals in a season, which he set against, lo and behold, Dartmouth.

Other stats: Penn is shooting 10-for-23 from the field, 1-of-7 from three-point range, and a shocking (for them) 9-for-9 from the line. Zoller leads the Quakers with 13 points and six rebounds, while Osmundson has seven. Jaaber is scoreless on three shots.

Dartmouth is shooting 10-for-29 from the field, 3-of-8 from deep, and has not gotten to the line yet. Dan Biber has eight points, while three other players have four.

Meanwhile, Princeton has extended to a 14-point lead with five minutes to play in the first half, so it looks like Penn will have to wait a week to even clinch a share of the Ivy title.

Halftime: Penn stays with the six-man rotation throughout the half, as Dartmouth is hanging around at the break, down only seven. Check back for halftime stats and the second half.

Meanwhile, Princeton and Harvard are tied 5-5 five minutes into their game in New Jersey.

3:43 1st half: For whatever reason, Dartmouth is playing man-to-man defense, and not the 2-3 zone that has perplexed the Quakers for much of the year. But Penn has not shot the lights out, so maybe it is working, as the Big Green hits some shots to make the score within reach.

But if Penn wants to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, it needs to avoid sequences like this one: Zoller stood and admired a three-pointer that ended up not even close, as his man, Dan Biber, came back down the court, and hit a three in transition.

All year Penn has had trouble with not following its shots, especially on threes, and someone needs to make sure the Quakers start doing that, soon.

7:18 1st half: Some good news for Dartmouth as they trail 19-7. At least it's 29 degrees warmer in Philadelphia than in Hanover, N.H. (48-19).

The last timeout came as Jaaber emphatically swatted away a shot on a Big Green fast break.

Also, as Princeton is about to get underway, I'll keep you updated on the Tigers' game against Harvard so that you don't have to do too much surfing.

11:41 1st half: Two media timeouts so far, and we've seen a bunch of Penn rebounds and points, but only one basket and already two timeouts for the Big Green, as Penn leads 13-2.

Brian Grandieri makes his first appearance of the game -- we'll see if Penn goes any deeper than this after coach Fran Dunphy did not do so last night.

15:27 1st half: This is the best start the Quakers have had in a while. They are killing Dartmouth on the glass, and are doing enough offensively to add to their lead.

18:09 1st half: A quick three by Osmundson, a crazy reverse by Zoller, and a lay-in by Danley off a nice feed from Zoller have given Penn an early lead and forced Big Green coach Terry Dunn to take a timeout.

Starting lineups:

After a nice presentation to the three seniors on the Quakers and a senior who is a team manager, we are ready to get started at the Palestra.

Dartmouth (5-19, 3-8 Ivy League/8th)
G - Mike Lang, 6-3 Sr.
G - Leon Pattman, 6-2 Jr.
F - Dan Biber, 6-8 Fr.
F - Calvin Arnold, 6-9 Sr.
F - Jonathan Ball, 6-4, So.

Penn (17-7, 9-1 Ivy/1st)
G - Eric Osmundson, 6-5 Sr.
G - Ibrahim Jaaber, 6-2 Jr.
G - David Whitehurst, 6-3 So.
F - Mark Zoller, 6-7 Jr.
F - Steve Danley, 6-8 Jr.

Injury update: Junior forward Steve Danley broke his nose last night against Harvard, and will play tonight, as he is now wearing the classic basketball face mask.

Senior forward Friedrich Ebede, on the other hand, was not as lucky. He strained his groin and will not play tonight. However, I hope for his sake that he starts on Senior Night and then the teams throw the ball out of bounds or something so that he gets his due on the court.

It's the season finale at the Palestra for the Quakers, with tip-off time against Dartmouth at around 7 p.m.

Check back for constant updates during the game as Penn tries to clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title with a win and a Princeton loss to Harvard.

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