Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Phil Kasiecki

As we head into the all-important month of February in the Ivy League, there are three teams ahead of the pack, and it might well stay that way. Prohibitive favorite Penn is 2-0 after easily handling Cornell and Columbia in the middle of the month, while Harvard and Yale emerged from the weekend at 3-1. Princeton, Brown and Cornell all sport .500 records in the early going.

The team at the bottom, Dartmouth, is 0-4 and looks like a better team than they’ve shown. They certainly have more talent than their 2-15 overall record would lead one to believe, although a good deal of it is young. Give the Big Green a year or two, and the results should start to reflect that in due time.

Crimson Bounce Back

This weekend was a study in contrasts for Harvard, which was fresh off final exams. They had a bad loss on Friday night at Yale before getting a big game from emerging junior Jim Goffredo in their 75-58 win at Brown on Saturday.

Goffredo, who scored 21 in the loss at Yale, topped that total in the first half as he caught fire a little past the halfway point. He went on a 16-3 run all by himself to turn a 19-12 edge into a 35-15 lead, finishing the half with 22 points on 7-8 shooting, all from three-point land. He would finish the night with 30 points on 9-12 shooting, 8-10 on three-pointers. The only blemish came, ironically enough, at the foul line: he was 4-7, though he entered shooting over 90 percent.

Head coach Frank Sullivan noted that Goffredo and senior leader Matt Stehle (17 points) carried them, but was happiest about the Crimson doing well in areas where they hurt themselves the night before. He cited better defense, including no foul trouble, and their 16-19 showing at the free throw line as the areas he was happy with.

“It was good to get back, but more importantly, to correct ourselves in the areas we got hurt in last night,” Sullivan said.

The Crimson hit New York next weekend, as they play at Columbia and Cornell.

Bulldogs Pick Up Two

Yale protected its home court with two wins this weekend, a convincing 82-74 win over Harvard on Friday and a 72-55 win over Dartmouth on Saturday.

On Friday night, balance did the trick, as well as a 13-5 run to open the second half that turned a three-point halftime lead into a 46-35 cushion. The Crimson scored the next seven points to get within 46-42, but got no closer after that as the Bulldogs held them below 30 percent shooting in the second half and shot nearly 62 percent at the offensive end.

Sam Kaplan had 16 points to lead six players in double figures, the most notable of which was freshman guard Chris Andrews with ten. Both starting guards, Eric Flato (12) and Nick Holmes (11) reached double figures as well. This game proved that when the guards get going, the Bulldogs will be tough to beat, as the frontcourt is not a major concern with the experienced personnel there.

On Saturday, they rode the frontcourt play to the win, as Dominick Martin had 15 and Kaplan had 13 to pace the Bulldogs.

Turnovers were still an issue against Harvard, as the Bulldogs overcame 19 of them. They’ll need to cut down on that, and get more good guard play, as they make the trip to Princeton and Penn this weekend.

Bears Starting to Emerge

Amidst their struggles this season, Brown is starting to see some good signs for the future. The Bears have just one senior, so this season is a key for gaining experience. The Bears split their games this weekend, pulling out a double overtime win over Dartmouth on Friday before Harvard came in and handed them a 75-58 defeat on Saturday night. While Saturday night’s loss was not what the doctor ordered, the weekend as a whole wasn’t a step backwards for the team.

They got two solid games from sophomore Keenan Jeppesen, who has emerged as the team’s top player in recent weeks. He scored a career-high 25 points and had six steals in Friday night’s win, and he led the way with 18 on Saturday night. He has reached double figures in all four Ivy League games, and looks like the go-to guy.

“He’s getting comfortable and more aggressive,” head coach Glen Miller said. “We’re constantly, in practice, trying to get him to play more aggressively.”

Jeppesen’s primary help lately has been freshman forward Scott Friske, who had a tough night on Saturday but has emerged over the last month. Prior to Saturday night, he had scored in double figures in five of six games, pulling down 10 rebounds twice. He’s a competitor inside whose desire to win shows, and that’s one thing that will help a team that has struggled with confidence for most of the season.

Miller said the Bears played better offensively in the second half against Harvard. The offense is one reason he’s optimistic about where this team is headed.

“We’re a young team, and it’s no secret we’ve been struggling, but our offense is starting to come together,” Miller said. “Defensively, we’re playing a gritty 2-3 zone, and for a young team to build some confidence with a few wins is good.”

The Bears will get tested this weekend, when they make the trip down I-95 to play at Penn and Princeton.

Don’t Forget the Big Red

Time was when key personnel losses by any team meant a step back, unless you were Penn or Princeton. That has changed for Cornell, which has seen some key players depart during their recent resurgence but remains a tough team to beat. On Saturday, a key reason for that this season showed in their 81-59 thumping of Columbia at Levien Gymnasium.

The top Ivy League rookie in scoring, Adam Gore, scored a career-high 26 points just after being named the league’s Rookie of the Week. Gore is seventh in the league in scoring, complementing senior Lenny Collins and junior post player Andrew Naeve. Steady point guard Graham Dow had a career-high 19 points and added five assists on Saturday.

The Big Red don’t have great depth, and that took a blow when sophomore Khaliq Gant suffered a serious neck injury in practice last Tuesday, but they have a good lineup despite losing key players Cody Toppert and Eric Taylor from last season’s team. Gore’s instant contributions will help keep them at least in the upper division.

The Associated Press reported that as of Sunday, Gant is still hospitalized and in good spirits, though unable to move. The Big Red wore his No. 21 on their jerseys in Saturday’s game.

Other Notes

• Harvard’s frontcourt has been much ballyhooed, and for good reason. But thus far, the Crimson are third in the league in the key frontcourt stat of rebounding margin. The lead goes to Columbia, thanks in large part to improving sophomores Ben Nwachukwu and John Baumann, and Yale isn’t far behind with its trio of Dominick Martin, Sam Kaplan and Casey Hughes.
• Brown has had a hard enough time getting wins, so it was worth a few light moments when Friday’s final box score did not add the win to the team’s record.

Ivy League Preview

Ivy League 2005-05 Preview

by Steve Sheridan

Let’s just make it easy: Penn might well win the Ivy League title this season. After 23 overall titles and five of the last seven championships, this bold prediction will not make any huge waves throughout the Ivy League community. Nonetheless, the Quakers are in excellent position to repeat as Ivy League champs after bringing back four of five starters from last year’s dominant squad that clinched the league title with three games remaining. With reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Tim Begley departed, however, there is a small window of opportunity this season for the other Ivies.

One of the teams poised to rise to the top is a team that is the polar opposite of the Quakers – the Harvard Crimson. The Cambridge crew has never won an Ivy League title in the league’s 49 years of basketball, and yet this season the team returns the best frontcourt duo in the league in Matt Stehle and Brian Cusworth. Those two players alone will give the Crimson a good shot at finishing near the top of the Ivy League standings, if not at the top.

Another interesting storyline is that of the Princeton Tigers, a team that won the 2003-2004 Ivy League title and was picked as the preseason favorite last season. However, the team finished the league season with a 6-8 record – the first time in 50 years that the Tigers finished under .500 in Ivy play. In his second season behind the Tiger bench, head coach Joe Scott will surely look to bring Princeton back to its usual perch near the top of the Ivy League.

Two teams that exceeded expectations last season will likely find dissimilar fates this season. The Cornell Big Red, the only team besides Penn to post a winning league record last season, bring back three starters from last year’s surprising team and looks to keep itself near the top of the standings. The Dartmouth Big Green, however, might not keep up despite posting the second biggest single-season turnaround in Ivy League history last season. With only two starters back from last year, some new players will have to step up in order to keep the Big Green from returning to the lower half of the league.

With the season just getting underway, however, it is any team’s game. As evidenced by Princeton’s season last year, the preseason rankings mean nothing when the teams finally step onto the floor and begin the all-important league schedule. Beginning on January 7, teams will be able to prove all the doubters wrong.

Preseason Awards

First-Team All-Ivy League:
Lenny Collins, Cornell
Brian Cusworth, Harvard
Ibrahim Jaaber, Penn
Matt Stehle, Harvard
Mark Zoller, Penn

League MVP: Matt Stehle, Harvard
Coach of the Year: Frank Sullivan, Harvard

Team-by-Team Previews (In order of expected finish)

Pennsylvania Quakers (20-9 overall, 13-1 Ivy League, 1st place)
Projected Starting Five:
Ibrahim Jaaber, Guard
Eric Osmundson, Guard
Friedrich Ebede, Forward
Mark Zoller, Forward
Steve Danley, Forward

Schedule Highlights:
December 3 vs. Temple
December 7 at Duke
December 13 vs. Villanova

The Quakers return four of five starters from last year’s first place team, but will have to deal with the graduation of Ivy League Player of the Year Tim Begley, who led the league in assists (4.8 apg), led the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and placed second on the team in rebounds (5.4 rpg). The good news, however, is that the rest of the team comes back for another season. The backcourt will be the territory of Ibrahim Jabber, the junior guard who started every game last season at Begley’s side. Jaaber set an Ivy League single-season record last year with 85 steals, while also finding the time to score 11.5 points and grab 4.6 rebounds per game. In the frontcourt, the Quakers look set with the return of Mark Zoller and Steve Danley, who combined to average 18.7 ppg and 11.4 rpg last season for Penn. With so many important pieces returning, expect the Quakers to barely miss a beat without Begley as they head towards another Ivy League title.

Harvard Crimson (12-15 overall, 7-7 Ivy League, T-3rd place)
Projected Starting Five:
Drew Housman, Guard
Jim Goffredo, Guard
Michael Beal, Guard
Matt Stehle, Forward
Brian Cusworth, Center

Schedule Highlights:
November 19 vs. Vermont
November 22 at Holy Cross
December 6 at Boston University
December 22 at Boston College

The Harvard Crimson have high expectations this season, and the bulk of the pressure will fall to the team’s backcourt. With Kevin Rogus, David Giovacchini and Jason Norman all leaving, Jim Goffredo is the only guard with any real experience and will be counted on to improve on his 6.1 ppg average from a year ago. With few other backcourt options, the Crimson point will likely be run by a freshman, with Drew Housman being an early candidate to grab the spot. The team has few worries in the frontcourt, however, as the team returns the league’s best 1-2 combination, Matt Stehle and Brian Cusworth. Stehle, an early candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year, led the league in rebounding (8.9 rpg) last season and placed fifth in scoring (13.7 ppg). Cusworth led all Ivy players in blocked shots last season, placed second in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and averaged over 13 ppg, ranking him sixth overall. With Stehle and Cusworth up front, the success of the Crimson will largely depend on how the backcourt can respond to handling the pressure – and if the guards play well, look out for Harvard this season.

Princeton Tigers (15-13 overall, 6-8 Ivy League, 6th place)
Projected Starting Five:
Scott Greenman, Guard
Geoff Kestler, Guard
Luke Owings, Forward
Noah Savage, Forward
Harrison Schaen, Center

Schedule Highlights:
November 14 vs. Drexel (Preseason NIT)
December 6 vs. Temple
December 17 at Wake Forest
December 21 at Stanford

With the losses of three-time all-Ivy League selections Will Venable and Judson Wallace and three other seniors, the Princeton Tigers will have some big shoes to fill and not a ton of experience to fill them with. The team brings back three starters from last season, Scott Greenman, Luke Owings and Noah Savage, as well as sophomore Harrison Schaen, who showed potential in the 2003-2004 season before taking a leave of absence from the school last season. Greenman, the team’s leading returning scorer (8.6 ppg), is also the team’s sole senior this season and has started every game in the last two seasons. Schaen will be a big factor in Princeton’s success this season” if the sophomore can step in and play well, then the Tigers have a good chance of breaking the .500 mark this year. Last season was the first time in 49 years that Princeton’s league mark was below .500, and the team does not want that to happen again this season.

Cornell Big Red (13-14 overall, 8-6 Ivy League, 2nd place)
Projected Starting Five:
Graham Dow, Guard
David Lisle, Guard
Ryan Rourke, Forward
Lenny Collins, Forward
Andrew Naeve, Forward

Schedule Highlights:
November 8 vs. St. Francis (Coaches vs. Cancer Classic)
November 19 at Penn State
January 2 at Washington

After exceeding all expectations last season, the Cornell Big Red look to keep that momentum going despite losing 1,000-point scorers Cody Toppert and Eric Taylor. With the graduation of Taylor, returning seniors Lenny Collins (13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Ryan Rourke (9.8 ppg) will assume much of the scoring and rebounding burdens, while the team will also have to find a new center for the first time in four seasons. Andrew Naeve is expected to fill that role to begin the season. In the backcourt, David Lisle will step up from a spot starter to a full-time starter, while Graham Dow will look to shake off the effects of an injury that caused him to miss the final five games of last season and lead the Big Red from the point. Sophomore Khaliq Gant will also see a lot of playing time off the bench, as Cornell trades a powerful backcourt for a deep and versatile one.

Yale Bulldogs (11-16 overall, 7-7 Ivy League, T-3rd place)
Projected Starting Five:
Eric Flato, Guard
Caleb Holmes, Guard
Casey Hughes, Forward
Sam Kaplan, Forward
Dominick Martin, Center (ineligible for the first semester)

Schedule Highlights:
December 22 at Providence
January 4 at Kansas

With the graduation of Edwin Draughan and Alex Gamboa, the Yale Bulldogs will need to do something they haven’t done in four seasons: find some new starting guards. The team will attempt to fill that void with a pair of sophomores, Eric Flato and Caleb Holmes, each of whom made solid impacts in their freshman campaign. Holmes was the team’s top freshman last season after starting the team’s final 10 games, although he only averaged 4.4 ppg for the entire season. The frontcourt looks to be in good shape, with Casey Hughes (7.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Sam Kaplan (8.2 ppg) returning for the entire season and Dominick Martin using his one remaining semester of eligibility for the team’s league schedule. When on the floor, Martin will be huge for the Bulldogs – he placed second in the league in field goal percentage (.533), and third in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and blocks (1.1 bpg). The Bulldogs might be young this season, but expect them to be very competitive as the younger players continue to blossom.

Brown Bears (12-16 overall, 5-9 Ivy League, 7th place)
Projected Starting Five:
Marcus Becker, Guard
Damon Huffman, Guard
P.J Flaherty, Forward
Mark MacDonald, Forward
Luke Ruscoe, Forward

Schedule Highlights:
November 18 vs. Northeastern (Central Connecticut Classic)
December 7 at Holy Cross

Coming off a season in which the Bears fielded a team with only one senior and one junior, the team returns four starters, including the team’s only senior, Luke Ruscoe. Ruscoe placed second on the team in scoring with 10.3 ppg last season, and led the team with 5.6 rpg and 1.9 spg, and will be counted on for even more this season. P.J. Flaherty will also return to the Bears’ starting frontcourt as well. In the backcourt, the team will have to make up for the loss of All-Ivy League guard Jason Forte. The team returns Marcus Becker and reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Damon Huffman, both of whom will be needed to score points: Huffman averaged 8.4 ppg and Becker added 4.8 ppg last season with Forte in the backcourt. However, players such as Flaherty and MacDonald, who didn’t play more than 15 minutes a game last season, will be very important if this team is to rise up the Ivy League standings.

Dartmouth Big Green (10-17 overall, 7-7 Ivy League, T-3rd place)
Projected Starting Five:
Mike Lang, Guard
Chuck Flynn, Guard
Johnathan Ball, Forward
Paul Bode, Forward
Calvin Arnold, Center

Schedule Highlights:
November 18 at Boston College
December 21 vs. Vermont

Last season, the Dartmouth Big Green defied the odds and turned a 1-13 league mark into a 7-7 record against the Ivies. The team, however, must find a way to replace starters David Gardner, Steve Callahan and Mike McLaren. In the backcourt, that job begins with senior Mike Lang, who averaged a team-high 11.8 ppg, primarily off the bench. As a starter, he will need to work well with sophomores Johnathan Ball and Chuck Flynn, who combined to average 9.5 ppg in 2004-2005. The Big Green has a slightly bigger problem in up front, where Gardner took with him 10.6 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Calvin Arnold, who averaged 6.0 ppg, and Paul Bode (1.8 ppg) give the Big Green two big bodies up front, but it remains to be seen if either of them can match Gardner’s input down low. Without a constant low-post presence, Dartmouth may find itself sinking back towards the bottom of the Ivy League standings after a one-year resurgence.

Columbia Lions (12-15 overall, 3-11 Ivy League, 8th place)
Projected Starting Five:
Dalen Cuff, Guard
Brett Loscalzo, Guard
Mack Montgomery, Guard
Dragutin Kravic, Forward
John Baumann, Center

Schedule Highlights:
November 22 at Long Island
December 23 at Notre Dame
December 27 at St. John’s (Panasonic Holiday Festival)

With a team comprising 11 underclassmen and three seniors, the Columbia Lions will rely very heavily on a lot of younger players to step up and contribute. Seniors Dalen Cuff and Dragutin Kravic will provide some leadership to go along with 11.8 ppg, but they alone will be unable to make up for the loss of Matt Preston and Jeremiah Boswell, who as the team’s top two scorers last season combined to average 23.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg. The success of the Lions this season will ultimately depend on its sophomore class – Brett Loscalzo, Mack Montgomery and John Baumann lead a group of six second-year players who will likely see a lot of time this year. Loscalzo and Montgomery led the sophomores in scoring with 5.8 ppg from the guard position and will need more production this season. Not a lot is expected from this year’s Columbia team, but another year of experience will make this team that much better come next season.

Harvard’s Comeback Season

A Season of Progress

by Phil Kasiecki

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Frank Sullivan summed it up on more than one occasion.

“These guys have come a long way in 12 months,” the Harvard head coach said of his team.

Last year wasn’t one for the books at the famed Ivy League school. With four starters gone from the 2002-03 team – starters who played the vast majority of minutes for the team – the Crimson didn’t figure to be contenders. But few could have predicted that they would lose their first 11 games of the season en route to a 4-23 finish. It got to the point where Sullivan, who is as well-respected as any coach in the league among his peers, talked about winning ten-minute stretches or halves of games, in the name of taking baby steps.

“We all try to put a happy face on what they went through last year – they went through a lot last year, and there’s still some scarred tissue in their heads and their bodies and their minds about how they played,” Sullivan reflected.

It wasn’t a season to remember, but at the same time, the players knew that it was a rebuilding year. Most of the veterans were relatively inexperienced, and the team had no seniors. The only player who had ever started a game was junior captain Jason Norman, who had started nine games the previous season. That meant that this team had a real learning curve and a lot of work to do.

With all the work they put in – and players universally acknowledge that the team never stopped working last year – it was tough not seeing results at the end of games. But there were good developments for the future. Kevin Rogus led the team in scoring and showed that he could shoot the ball consistently as a starter after doing it off the bench. Matt Stehle had five double-doubles and showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with. Norman remained one of the league’s top defenders, while Michael Beal and Dave Giovacchini gained more experience at the point.

After sweeping this weekend’s final home games of the season with wins over Yale (82-66) and Brown (80-68), the Crimson are in a three-way tie for second place in the Ivy League and on track for at least a .500 finish in league play. They were eliminated from contention on Friday night, but there’s plenty to be satisfied about with this season for the players and coaches. They can see that all the work has paid off, that they paid their dues last season and now the results are coming.

Saturday night was senior night, honoring seniors Norman, Rogus, Giovacchini and Graham Beatty. Beatty’s mother sang the national anthem, a wonderful rendition that got a rousing ovation from the crowd and that included those of us seated on press row. Then the Crimson went out and beat the Bears, holding off every little charge they made in the second half to try to get a little closer. After the game, there was a lot of reflection on what has happened with this team.

“They are the guts of the program,” Sullivan said of his seniors. “These guys came into the program and sat, sat a second year, got to play their third year and it was a disaster for them. It just means so much to watch them grow, watch them achieve, and watch them walk out of here tonight with their heads up.”

“We knew we were going to do it all season long,” said Rogus, who scored 11 points against Brown and hit clutch three-pointers all weekend long. “We knew that last season was a rebuilding year, and we took what we learned from that year and built upon it this year throughout the whole time. Now that the season’s ending, we’re in our best shape and playing our best basketball.”

Far from last season’s struggles, the Crimson will finish this season without once losing more than three games in a row, and have won consecutive games on four occasions, including this weekend. Last season, the Crimson lost 11 games by ten points or less; this season, they have a 6-8 record in those games. They started winning games that they probably would have lost last year, showing the new maturity. It’s easy for the losses to add up and take a real toll, but the players just kept playing and were ready to come into this year.

“I saw them go through so much last year,” said sophomore center Brian Cusworth, who is playing arguably his best basketball of the season right now. “Their overall win-loss column did not show in the slightest how hard they worked and how much they went through as a team. I saw in their faces after every one of those games and especially coming into this year that they had the determination to not let that happen again, because it’s so heartbreaking. These seniors have definitely set out to go out on a high note.”

“We just had to overcome adversity,” said Norman, the team’s first two-year captain since Ron Mitchell in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. “We had a tough year, we were 4-23. It feels great to turn this season around like that.”

The Ivy League isn’t loaded with future NBA stars. It’s a league that’s known more for its academics than athletics, though it hasn’t been without athletic accomplishments over the years. Teams are known more for their patient offensive sets instead of the run-and-gun that make the highlight reels. By and large, coaching jobs are not stepping stones to major conferences, but are destinations instead. In the ranks of Division I, the Ivy League is unique.

“You really do work with your players in an old-school kind of way,” Sullivan said. “They come in the back door, they have practice, they leave, and we don’t bug them for the rest of their day. I think that’s the beauty of the Ivy League, and specifically Harvard – the players are responsible once they leave here, for the most part. You just really work on coaching.”

The seniors have gone out on that high note at home, and next weekend they’ll try to do that on the road. With wins over traditional powers Princeton and Penn, the Crimson would finish off their first winning season in three years. The Crimson knocked off Princeton earlier in the season, and with the way they played this weekend, there is certainly reason to believe that they can certainly head down I-95 and pick up two more wins.

“I think our guys would play anyone in a parking lot tomorrow to get this thing to .500 or above,” said Sullivan.

“There’s so much motivation to go down there,” said Rogus. “First of all, it’s Penn and Princeton, which is just huge. We haven’t won down there in our careers, I think. To get Princeton and Penn is a big deal, to get .500 is a big deal, to get second place in the Ivy League, it’s our last games – there’s so much motivation, it’s unbelievable just for a weekend. So we’re going to go out there and have a pretty good weekend.”

That would cap off a season that would leave Sullivan quite happy.

“It means a lot,” said Sullivan of finishing with a winning record. “I think they’ve taken the charge of getting the energy back in the program quite seriously. I think they went through great adversity last year, and we hear that adversity generates strength – I think it clearly did with this group of players. We had talked to them significantly during the course of the season about getting our program back to the level it was when they came in, and I think it’s pretty close to being there right now.”

Big Man Comes Back Strong

Although certainly not the primary reason for the Crimson’s struggles, one thing that didn’t help matters was an injury that sidelined Cusworth. He suffered a stress fracture in his right foot that kept him out for the entire season, and after the first semester he withdrew and returned home to St. Louis.

As a freshman two years ago, Cusworth played the most minutes of any reserve and showed plenty of promise while playing behind then-senior Brian Sigafoos. Here was a seven-footer who could run the floor, knock down a mid-range jump shot, and showed some ball-handling and passing ability that most seven-footers don’t have. It all came naturally to him, as he wasn’t always this tall; he was 6′ tall when he entered the ninth grade and just kept growing. He reached about 6’11″ by the end of his high school years, and all the while, he wasn’t gaining a great deal of weight at first.

Last year, Cusworth figured to start reaching some of the potential he showed as a freshman, as he projected to be the starting center and a go-to guy for the team. He had worked hard to get stronger, feeling that it was his primary necessity to get better. Clearly, he would break out and become one of the Ivy League’s better players. Then the stress fracture came.

“It really makes you appreciate the game, it makes you realize how much you miss it sitting out any game,” Cusworth said of having to miss the season.

He started working out again around March, and he could feel the rust when he first got back out there and Sullivan saw it when practice started. He played in a summer pro-am league in his home of St. Louis and also attended the Pete Newell Big Man Camp, both of which helped him get ready for this season. While he enjoyed the Big Man Camp and got a lot out of it, there was some material there that wasn’t quite new to him.

“My dad is a doctor, but if you saw the literature that we have in our living room for basketball, you would think he is a coach, retired coach, training to be a coach – he has every magazine, every book, every video you can imagine,” Cusworth said. “First, about ball-handling when I was an undersized high school player, and about the post, I think we have two or three of even those videos they gave me at the camp, so now we have duplicates of it.”

There’s no question that it’s all paying off, and he has come back with the vengeance he had hoped to. He is in the top ten in the Ivy League in scoring, field goal percentage, rebounding and blocked shots, leading the league in the latter two categories, and has had seven double-doubles this season. With 65 career blocked shots through Saturday night, he is well on his way to one day breaking the school record for career blocked shots (117, held by Bill Mohler). His efforts this season include a 20-point, 13-rebound effort in a win over Northeastern and Friday night’s 21-point, 11-rebound effort against Yale. He’s had something to do with this team’s resurgence, but he has also been rejuvenated by his teammates as well.

“I can’t say enough how great it is to be back and how much of a pleasure it is to be playing with these guys that fought through so much adversity last year and see our team come together and play so well and have such a great rebound from last season,” he reflected.

Ivy League Recap

Ivy League 2003-04 Recap

by Owen Bochner

What began as a season with expectations for parity and fierce competition in the Ivy League ended as one characterized by routine and predictability. Sure, things looked bright in the Ancient Eight with surprising non-conference showings by middle-of-the-pack teams such as Yale and Cornell. But by the time the end of February approached, the cream had already risen to the top.

Alas, in 2004, there was no shocker in the Ivy League, as Princeton won its last nine conference games to cruise to its 24th league championship and its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001.

While the on-court story remained much the same in 2003-04 as in previous years, off the court, there was a bit more drama. After leading the Tigers to the top of the conference standings with a dominant 13-1 record, head coach John Thompson III left Old Nassau, assuming the post at Georgetown, a job held by his father for many years. Joe Scott, another Princeton alum, was quickly named as Thompson’s replacement.

Elsewhere, after Dartmouth announced mid-season that head coach Dave Faucher would not return, the Big Green completed its more than three-month long search for his replacement in May, when it named former Colorado assistant Terry Dunn as its new head coach.

The coaching carousel appears to be in motion once more, as the Associated Press has reported that La Salle offered Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy the head coaching job, vacated when Billy Hahn resigned earlier in the summer. It would be a major move for Dunphy, who has been at Penn for the past 16 seasons, making a name for himself as one of the best coaches in Ivy League history. Dunphy graduated from Big Five rival La Salle in 1970.

NCAA Tournament

Despite Will Venable’s 16 points, Princeton fell to Texas, 66-49, in the first round of the tournament. Princeton was the Ancient Eight’s only NCAA representative, gained entry as the No. 14 seed in the Phoenix regional, played in Denver.

Player of the Year

Jason Forte, Brown

The junior guard proved once again why he is one of the top talents in the league. He became the first player in Ivy League history to lead the league in both scoring and assists, averaging 21.4 and 5.8, respectively in conference play. He also set conference highs with 2.1 steals and 7.8 free throw attempts per game.

Freshman of the Year

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

The lone bright spot for the Big Green during a very down year, Pattman led all Ivy rookies in scoring with 13.2 points per game, despite missing a lot of time late in the season with a groin injury. He is dangerous shooter who will hope to lead Dartmouth’s resurgence under new head coach Terry Dunn.

First-Team All-Ivy
Jason Forte, Brown
Ka’Ron Barnes, Cornell
Jeff Schiffner, Penn
Judson Wallace, Princeton
Will Venable, Princeton

Second-Team All-Ivy
Pat Powers, Brown
Tim Begley, Penn
Jamie Kilburn, Brown
Matt Preston, Columbia
Edwin Draughan, Yale

All-Ivy Honorable Mention
Adam Chubb, Penn
Matt Stehle, Harvard

Princeton Tigers (20-8, 13-1 Ivy)

At the beginning of the season, several pundits predicted a banner season for the Tigers, assuming everything went right. Everything went right. Judson Wallace emerged as the dominant center in the league, Will Venable and Ed Persia combined to form one of the stronger backcourts in the league. With Persia the lone senior, high expectations will greet new head coach Joe Scott, as he looks to replicate his success at Air Force in his return to his alma mater.

Team MVP: Judson Wallace, Jr., C. (15.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 18 blocks)

Points leader: Wallace
Rebounds leader: Wallace
Assists leader: Will Venable (2.9 apg)

Starters leaving:
G Ed Persia

Starters returning:
G Scott Greenman
G Will Venable
F Andre Logan
C Judson Wallace

Contributors returning:
F Luke Owings
F/C Harrison Schaen
G Max Schafer
C Mike Stevens

Projected Starting Lineup:
G Greenman
G Venable
F Logan
F Schaen
C Wallace

Pennsylvania Quakers (17-10, 10-4)

When it came down to it, Penn’s undoing in 2003-04 was Brown. After going a perfect 14-0 in 2002-03, the Quakers hoped to overcome the losses of Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong, and Andrew Toole. Penn was almost able to pull off the feat, if not for a pair of losses to the Bears. Otherwise, the Quakers were as good as ever, losing only to league champion Princeton in the final game of the season and a two-point heartbreaker at Yale in late January. Again, Penn will be faced with the prospects of replacing its most productive players in 2004-05, as unanimous All-Ivy first-teamer Jeff Schiffner takes his bow.

Penn will also be faced with the prospect of a massive program restructuring, with long-time head coach Fran Dunphy rumored to be on his way to La Salle.

Team MVP: Jeff Schiffner, Sr., G (14.4 ppg, 3.3 apg, 22 steals)

Points leader: Schiffner
Rebounds leader: Adam Chubb (7.5 rpg)
Assists leader: Tim Begley (4.2 apg)

Starters leaving:
C Adam Chubb
G Charlie Copp
G Jeff Schiffner

Starters returning:
G Tim Begley
F Mark Zoller

Contributors returning:
G Ibby Jaaber
F Jan Fikiel
F Steve Danley
G Eric Osmundsen

Projected starting lineup:
G Begley
G Jaaber
F Zoller
F Danley
F Fikiel

Brown Bears (14-3, 10-4)

Glen Miller’s squad proved in 2003-04 that 2002-03 was no fluke, winning eight of its first nine conference games on the strength of Jason Forte’s monster junior season. Forte became the first player in league history to lead the league in both scoring and assists, more than making up for the loss of Earl Hunt. The good news for Brown? Despite losing three starters, a very strong underclass appears set to fill the void.

Team MVP: Jason Forte (16.8 ppg, 4.9 apg, 48 steals)

Points leader: Forte
Rebounds leader: Jaime Kilburn (6.6 rpg)
Assists leader: Forte

Starters leaving:
F Jaime Kilburn
G Mike Martin
F Patrick Powers

Starters returning:
G Jason Forte
F Luke Ruscoe

Contributors returning:
G Marcus Becker
F Sam Mahanga
F Andrew Salter

Projected starting lineup:
G Forte
G Becker
F Mahanga
F Salter
F Ruscoe

Yale Bulldogs (12-15, 7-7)

Following a less-than impressive Ivy League season, Yale found itself dealing with a much more serious situation in late May, when word that senior Josh Hill had died in a car accident near his home in Delaware. Hill, who had missed most of the 2002-03 season and all of 2003-04 with an injury, was preparing to return for a fifth year of eligibility in 2004-05. The Bulldogs will dedicate the season to his memory.

Team MVP: Edwin Draughan (11.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.2 apg)

Points leader: Draughan
Rebounds leader: Paul Vitelli (5.4 rpg)
Assists leader: Alex Gamboa (3.8 apg)

Starters leaving:
G Matt Minoff
F Paul Vitelli

Starters returning:
G Edwin Draughan
G Alex Gamboa
C Dominick Martin

Contributors returning:
F Sam Kaplan
G/F Casey Hughes
F Mark Lovett

Projected starting lineup:
G Draughan
G Gamboa
G Hughes
F Kaplan
C Martin

Cornell Big Red (11-16, 6-8)

Cornell started the 2003-04 season fast, winning its first five conference games of the season. It was the longest such streak for the Red since the 1964-65 season, when Cornell opened the conference season at 11-0. However, the team’s momentum deflated quickly after that. The Red lost its next three games, including being swept at home by Penn and Princeton, effectively ending its championship aspirations. By the end of the season, the team had developed too great a reliance on star guard Ka’Ron Barnes, who was no longer able to carry the weight. The Red won only one of its last six games to finish under .500 in conference play for the seventh consecutive year.

Team MVP: Ka’Ron Barnes (20.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 51 steals)

Points leader: Barnes
Rebounds leader: Eric Taylor (7.5 rpg)
Assists leader: Barnes

Starters leaving:
G Ka’Ron Barnes
F Gabe Stephenson

Starters returning:
G Cody Toppert
F Lenny Collins
C Eric Taylor

Contributors returning:
G Graham Dow
G/F David Lisle
F Stevan Marcetic
F Andrew Naeve

Projected starting lineup:
G Dow
G Lisle
F Toppert
F Collins
C Taylor

Columbia Lions (10-17, 6-8)

Replicating the feat pulled off by Columbia’s football team, the Lions enjoyed a tremendous turnaround under first-year head coach Joe Jones. After winning only two games in 2002-03, Columbia showed why there is no such thing as a sure thing in the Ancient Eight, surprising just about everyone with a six-victory season. Matt Preston was a particularly pleasant surprise, upping his scoring average from a dismal 2.0 points per game in 2002-03 to a team-leading 15.3 in 2003-04.

Team MVP: Matt Preston (15.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 10 blocks)

Points leader: Preston
Rebounds leader: Preston
Assists leader: Maurice Murphy (4.6 apg)

Starters leaving:
G Maurice Murphy

Starters returning:
G Jeremiah Boswell
F Dragutin Kravic
F Matt Preston
C Dodson Worthington

Contributors returning:
G Tito Hill
G Dalen Cuff
C Matt Land

Projected starting lineup:
G Jeremiah Boswell
G Tito Hill
F Dragutin Kravic
F Matt Preston
C Dodson Worthington

Harvard Crimson (4-23, 3-11)

Very little went right for the Crimson this past season as it hunkered down for the slow steps at the beginning of a youth movement. While there was little to cheer about for Harvard fans, there were some very promising things for the team to point to. One was the Crimson’s 78-71 upset victory over Yale on February 14. Another was the performance of forward Matt Stehle. The local product proved that he can hold his own against whatever the rest of the Ivy League has to offer, and as he enters his junior season, seems primed to move into the ranks of the league’s elite players.

Team MVP: Matt Stehle (13.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 43 blocks)

Points leader: Kevin Rogus (14.7 ppg)
Rebounds leader: Stehle
Assists leader: Michael Beal (3.1 apg)

Starters leaving:
None

Starters returning:
G Kevin Rogus
G Michael Beal
F Matt Stehle
F Jason Norman
C Graham Beatty

Contributors returning:
G David Giovacchini
G Jim Goffredo
F Luke McCrone

Projected starting lineup:
G Rogus
G Beal
F Stehle
F Norman
C Beatty

Dartmouth Big Green (3-25, 1-13)

Things went from bad to worse for Dartmouth. After a disappointing 4-10 Ivy finish in 2002-03, much of the roster returned for the Green in 2003-04, and promptly had an even worse finish. The lone conference victory came in the team’s first league game of the season, as the Green barely snuck past Harvard, 56-54, on January 3. The team failed to win another game, and it ultimately cost head coach Dave Faucher his job. He finished his 13-year Dartmouth career with a less-than-impressive 137-208 record.

Team MVP: Leon Pattman (13.2 ppg, 26 steals, .886 FT pct.)

Points leader: Pattman
Rebounds leader: Calvin Arnold (4.5 rpg)
Assists leader: Steve Callahan (2.1 apg)

Starters leaving:
None

Starters returning:
G Leon Pattman
G Steve Callahan
G Mike McLaren
F Calvin Arnold
C David Gardner

Contributors returning:
G Mike Lang

Projected starting lineup:
G Pattman
G Callahan
G McLaren
F Arnold
C Gardner

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

Things are coming down to the wire in the Ivy League with Princeton firmly in the drivers’ seat. The Tigers extended their winning streak to four with last weekend’s sweep of Brown and Yale, and clinched their 51st consecutive winning conference season in the process. It is by far the longest such streak in the country – no other school has done it for even half as long.

Meanwhile, Brown’s Jason Forte leads the league in both points and assists per conference game. Should he continue this pace for the remainder of the season, he will become the first Ivy League player to lead the conference in both categories ever. Averaging 23.2 points in conference matchups, he is also on pace to post the highest-scoring season since Dartmouth’s Jim Barton averaged 23.9 in 1987-88.

One of Barton’s coaches during his career with the Big Green was Dave Faucher. Faucher, who was an assistant coach at Dartmouth before taking over the head coaching job in 1991, announced last week that he would resign at the end of the season. The Green is in the midst of a fourteen-game losing streak, and has only one conference victory this season. Faucher has 136 career wins, good for third on the Green’s all-time list.

How They Stand

At 8-1, Princeton has begun to open up a lead at the top of the Ivy League pack. The Tigers’ only conference loss came at home to Penn on Feb. 10. Despite a couple of close calls against Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia, Princeton is continuing to roll. Brown is a game and a half back at 7-3, followed by Penn and Cornell, which are both still mathematically alive.

Game of the Week

Cornell at Penn, Fri., Feb. 27, 7:00 p.m. EST. The rematch between these two teams in Philadelphia can have serious implications in the determination of a possible NIT bid. When the teams met two weeks ago in Ithaca, Penn blew away an overwhelmed and sloppy Big Red, 79-52.

Player of the Week

Judson Wallace, Princeton

The junior center’s resurgence continued, as he posted his third and fourth straight 20-point games this past weekend. For the past four games, he is averaging 23.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, helping to lead the Tigers to a four-game winning streak and sole possession of first place.

Rookie of the Week

Mark Zoller, Penn

The Quaker freshman averaged 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds over the weekend as Penn split against Yale and Brown. Zoller scored 24 points – a career high – Friday night in the Quakers’ loss to Brown, then scored eight of his twelve in the final seven minutes against Yale. Zoller follows classmate Ibrahim Jaaber as rookie of the week, picking up the honor for the second time this season.

Brown Bears (11-12, 7-3 Ivy)

The Bears completed the season sweep of Penn last Friday, becoming the first Brown team to sweep Penn since 1991. Brown saw its four-game winning streak snapped Saturday night at the hands of Princeton, and subsequently sits in second place in the conference, a game and a half behind the Tigers. Junior Jason Forte has taken over the league lead in scoring and now sits in fifteenth place on the Bears’ all-time scoring list with 1,050 points. Brown returns home for the final time this season, playing host to cellar-dwelling Dartmouth and Harvard.

Columbia Lions (8-15, 4-6)

With its home wins over Harvard and Dartmouth, Columbia completed season sweeps of two different Ivy League opponents since 1999-00. It was also the first time the Lions swept a home weekend in three years. The team’s resurgence under first-year head coach Joe Jones has been nothing less than remarkable. Though not in the title hunt, Columbia will hope to continue its return to respectability this weekend when it visits Princeton and Penn.

Cornell Big Red (11-12, 6-4)

After the team completed a season sweep of Dartmouth Friday night, the Red’s dying title hopes took another severe hit Saturday night with a very tight home loss to Harvard. Now 6-4 on the season, Cornell is three games behind Princeton in the loss column with only four games left to play. That makes this weekend absolutely crucial if the Red has any hopes of making a last-ditch title run. Cornell will visit Penn and Princeton, in a rematch of the series in Ithaca of two weeks ago. Senior Ka’Ron Barnes was named to the NABC All-District second-team, the first Cornellian since John Bajusz to be so honored.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-21, 1-9)

A lost season for the Green fell to even greater depths this past weekend, as Dartmouth extended its losing streak to fourteen games. With star freshman Leon Pattman out of the lineup against Cornell Friday night, the Green looked hopeless, shooting a mere 26 percent from the floor on the game. Dartmouth will complete its longest road trip of the season this weekend, visiting Brown and Yale before returning home for head coach Dave Faucher’s final games.

Harvard Crimson (4-19, 3-7)

The Crimson continued to surprise this past weekend, pulling off a road upset against Cornell, one week after beating Yale. Harvard has now won two of its last three games. Sophomore Matt Stehle continued to frustrate Cornell on Saturday night, scoring fifteen points, while junior David Giovacchini added fourteen. Harvard visits Yale and Brown this weekend, hoping for the chance to play spoiler in the Bears’ bid for a second consecutive NIT nod.

Pennsylvania Quakers (13-9, 6-3)

Penn saw itself swept by Brown for the first time since the 1990-91 season, a very serious blow to the team’s chances of defending its Ivy League title. Freshman Mark Zoller and senior Adam Chubb combined to give the Bears fits in the low post Friday night, combining for 45 points. Meanwhile, Jeff Schiffner became the 31st player to score 1,000 career points at Penn, 615 of which have come from three-pointers. He is also second all-time in three-point field goals. The Quakers host their final Ivy League home series this weekend, welcoming Cornell and Columbia to the Palestra.

Princeton Tigers (15-7, 8-1)

As the season goes on, the Tigers seem to only get stronger and stronger. This past weekend, they proved that trend again, coming from behind to beat both Yale and Brown at home. Junior Judson Wallace had his third and fourth straight 20-point games, while senior Andre Logan and junior Will Veneble were instrumental in sparking Princeton’s comeback efforts both nights. Princeton now has its destiny solely within its control. Regardless of what other teams in the league do, should Princeton win its next four games, it will clinch the Ivy League title. The Tigers play host to Columbia and Cornell this weekend, before hitting the road to visit Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend.

Yale Bulldogs (9-14, 4-6)

Junior center Dominick Martin is fifteenth in the country in field goal percentage, but his hot shooting was not enough for Yale this past weekend, as the Elis fell to Princeton and Penn. With these losses, Yale is mathematically eliminated from contention for the league title. Head coach James Jones’ first recruiting class of Scott Gaffield, Matt Minoff, Justin Simon, Paul Vitelli, and Basil Williams will play its final home games this weekend, as Harvard and Dartmouth visit New Haven.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

The second weekend of Ivy-exclusive games proved once again that anything can happen. Cornell, for example, looked downright bipolar in the weekend’s action. Friday night, the Big Red demolished Brown, 96-81, leading by as many as 24 points. Twenty-four hours later, the Red looked flat, and Yale demolished Cornell, 67-48. And, by the way, Brown swept Yale earlier this year. Elsewhere, it took first-place Princeton two overtime sessions to beat last-place Harvard, Penn had a cheesesteak night at the expense of the Crimson, and Yale beat Columbia, 63-58, in the battle of the Jones brothers.

And, Tuesday night it got even better. The final pair of travel partners – the vaunted Penn and Princeton – finally met for a midweek showdown at Jadwin Gym.

How they stand

After Tuesday’s loss, Princeton fell a half-game behind Cornell in the league standings. This weekend will be crucial as the Tigers and Penn visit Ithaca, with the results possibly determining the league’s champion. Elsewhere, Brown sits in third place at 4-2, while Yale and Penn each improved to .500 with weekend sweeps.

Game of the Week

Princeton at Cornell; Fri., Jan. 13, 8 p.m. EST.

A match up between the top two teams in the league this season will have definite title implications. The post battle between Cornell’s Eric Taylor and Princeton’s Judson Wallace will be interesting to watch. The game will be made even more interesting as the two schools will square off in ice hockey next door.

Player of the Week

Pat Powers, Brown

The senior guard scored a total of 57 points in the Bears’ weekend split against Cornell and Columbia. In addition to his 23 points against Cornell, Powers had a career-high ten rebounds. He scored 25 first half points Saturday, finishing the game with a career-best 34 to lead the Bears to a 90-81 win.

Rookie of the Week

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

Dartmouth continues to struggle but Pattman continues to soar. The freshman guard was the leading scorer both Friday night at Princeton and Saturday at Penn, scoring 40 points on the weekend. He also added nine rebounds and three steals on the weekend.

Brown Bears (8-11, 4-2 Ivy)

One year ago, Brown took over the position of “Best Non-P Team” with its sweep of Yale. Brown may have experienced a bit of the changing of the guard last Friday night in its 96-81 home loss to Cornell. Fortunately for the Bears, they were able to get over the shock of such a large home loss the next night, breezing by Columbia 90-81. Junior guard Jason Forte almost single-handedly pulled the Bears back into the game on Friday, scoring a game-high 30 points. He scored another 23 Saturday night to move into twentieth place on Brown’s all-time scoring list. Senior Pat Powers scored 23 points in the second half against Cornell, then 25 in the first half against Columbia for 48 points in consecutive halves. The Bears will begin a four-game road trip this weekend when it pays visits to Harvard and Dartmouth.

Columbia Lions (6-13, 2-4)

The match up of brothers Joe and James Jones lived up to expectations Friday night, as Columbia and Yale battled down to the wire in New Haven. Unfortunately for the Lions, James Jones’s Yale squad emerged with the 63-58 victory. Nevertheless, keeping the game so close for so long was a sign of Columbia’s vast improvement this season over years past. The Lions dropped another close game the next night to Brown, after Columbia came back from a thirteen-point deficit to lead by seven with under ten minutes to go. However, the Bears turned it on late to pull out the victory. Sophomore Dalen Cuff was particularly impressive for the Lions, scoring a game-high 23 points against Brown. The Lions return home this weekend to play host to Penn and Princeton.

Cornell Big Red (10-9, 5-1)

Despite reverting to pre-conference season form Saturday night at Yale, Cornell remains in control of its own destiny, with the toughest challenge yet to come this weekend. Guards Ka’Ron Barnes and Cody Toppert combined for 57 points Friday night against Brown in helping the Red to its second 90-point game of the season. It also gave Cornell a 5-0 start in Ivy League play, the best since the team went 11-0 to begin the 1964-65 season. After dropping a clunker to Yale the next night in New Haven, Cornell will be set to return home to Newman Arena for the first time in five games Friday night. The weekend will be a watermark for the Ivy season, as Princeton and Penn invade Ithaca.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-17, 1-5)

Leon Pattman has been downright dominant over the past three weeks. Battling an injury that held him out of the Green’s loss to Columbia on Jan. 30, Pattman has averaged 41 percent of his team’s scoring in his last five games. He continues to lead the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and this week was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for sixth time this season. Unfortunately for Dartmouth, the team begins and ends with Pattman. The alarming lack of support has allowed the Green to drop its ninth and tenth consecutive games this past weekend, falling on the road to Princeton and Penn. The team will hope that this weekend’s Winter Carnival festivities will help change its fortunes, as it welcomes Yale and Brown.

Harvard Crimson (2-17, 1-5)

It took Princeton ten extra minutes to dispatch the Crimson Saturday night. The game came very close to becoming the biggest upset in the league so far this season. However, despite a brilliant effort by junior forward Jason Norman, the game eventually went the Tigers’ way and Harvard dropped its fifth straight game. It was a vast departure from the night before, when Harvard found itself on the wrong side of a 104-69 decision in the Palestra. Norman was the high man for the Crimson Friday, scoring in double digits for the ninth time in Harvard’s last twelve games. The Crimson will return home to host Brown and Yale this weekend as it hopes to break its losing streak.

Penn Quakers (10-8, 3-2)

The Quakers wanted to make a statement in their first game since suffering a league sweep two weeks ago. Against Harvard Friday night, they did just that. Freshman Ibrahim Jaaber scored a career-high thirteen points to help lead Penn past the Crimson, 104-69, at the Palestra. Senior center Adam Chubb scored seventeen points, hitting on all seven of his field goal attempts, while senior Jeff Schiffner and junior Tim Begley combined for fourteen three-pointers on the game. Strong foul shooting was the story on Saturday night, as the Quakers emerged with a more modest, 67-49, victory against Dartmouth. Penn completed its week with a 67-52 victory against rival Princeton Tuesday night. Schiffner led all scorers with 22 points in the victory.

Princeton Tigers (11-7, 4-1)

Princeton became the last Ivy League team to lose a conference game Tuesday night with its 67-52 loss to Penn at Jadwin Gym. The loss came after the Tigers swept their second straight league weekend, sweeping through Dartmouth and Harvard. Saturday night, it took Princeton two overtimes to beat the upstart Crimson, as sophomore guard Scott Greenman hit a late three-pointer to spark Princeton to the 58-50 win. Freshman Harrison Schaen made a significant contribution, scoring the game-tying basket with 23 seconds left in regulation. Despite scoring only those two points, he added two important steals and two blocked shots. This weekend, Princeton will hit the road for a match up with first-place Cornell followed by a visit to Columbia.

Yale Bulldogs (8-11, 3-3)

Yale beat Columbia Friday in the battle of the Jones brothers, then returned to the court Saturday night and completely dominated Cornell. Senior guard Matt Minoff shutdown Cornell’s Cody Toppert, limited the league’s second-leading scorer to just three points, while junior guard Alex Gamboa held the league-leader, Ka’Ron Barnes, to only fourteen. Meanwhile, junior center Dominick Martin scored fourteen points against both Columbia and Cornell, continuing to bolster his stellar field-goal percentage, which is ranked eighteenth nationally. The Bulldogs will travel north to visit Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

Every year, one team emerges as the surprise contender in the Ivy League. Two years ago, that team was Yale. Last year, it was Brown. This year’s contender is Cornell. After one weekend of exclusive Ivy play, the Big Red is sitting at the top of the league standings at an impressive 4-0. However, the real shock of this young Ancient Eight season is not the Red but the Quakers of Pennsylvania. The two-time defending champions sit at 0-2 in conference play, having lost a pair of very close games to Brown and Yale this past weekend.

There is no question that things are changing in the Ivy League. The question, though, is just how different will things be at the season’s end? That answer will likely not be known for quite some time.

Streaky

This past weekend in Ivy League action marked the end of a couple of very notable streaks. With its losses to Yale and Brown, Penn ended its 23-game conference winning streak and opened the season 0-2 for the first time since the 1981-82 season. Columbia, on the other hand, with its road sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard broke its 19-game conference winning streak. It was the first time the Lions had a two-game road winning streak since the 1999-2000 season. The future is looking ever brighter for Columbia with each passing day.

Brotherly love

Another first will take place this coming weekend when Yale plays host to Columbia on Friday. It will be the first game between Eli coach James Jones and his younger brother Joe, head coach of the Lions. The last time two brothers coached at the same time at current Ivy League schools was from 1924-1928, when Ed Wachter coached at Harvard and his brother Leonard coached at Dartmouth, both schools then members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League. To make the meeting between the Joneses even more special, the Ivy League is celebrating Black History Month throughout February.

How They Stand

Cornell is tops at 4-0 after sweeping through league bottom-feeders Columbia, Harvard and Dartmouth. Princeton stands at 2-0 one weekend into its conference schedule having swept Brown and Yale while Brown, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, and Harvard fill out the predictably tight standings. Defending champ Penn sits surprisingly in eighth place at 0-2, two full games behind league-leading Cornell.

Game of the Week:

Cornell at Brown; Fri., Feb. 6, 7 p.m. EST.

It will be a matchup between two of the league’s top teams as well as its best two point guards as the Red continues its road trip at the Pizzitola center. The matchup between Cornell’s Ka’Ron Barnes and Brown’s Jason Forte will certainly be fun to watch, while the game itself will almost certainly have a tremendous impact on the league’s final standings.

Player of the Week

Will Venable, Princeton

The junior guard played a crucial role in the Tigers’ nail-biter against Yale Saturday night, completing a three-point play with three seconds remaining in the game. The night before, he put up a season-high eighteen points in Princeton’s victory over Brown. He also had a game-high eight rebounds against Yale.

Rookie of the Week

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

Pattman is very quickly becoming the overwhelming favorite to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year after picking up his fifth weekly honor this season. After sitting out the Green’s embarrassing loss to Columbia Friday night with an injury, Pattman came back with a vengeance Saturday night against Cornell, scoring 21 points and adding a game-high twelve rebounds, playing the entire game. He also had four assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.

Brown Bears (7-10, 3-1 Ivy)

Brown split the weekend, falling 64-49 to Princeton, the upsetting Penn, 92-88, in overtime. Jason Forte continues to star for the Bears, having scored eighteen in the loss to Princeton. He is averaging 22.3 points per game in league play, and currently sits in 23rd place on the Bears’ all-time scoring list. A sellout crowd of 2,957 saw the Bears upset Penn Saturday night, and stormed the court at the game’s conclusion to help celebrate. Brown continues its homestand, welcoming Cornell and Columbia to the Pizzitola Center this coming weekend in a series that is suddenly much more challenging than Brown originally expected.

Columbia Lions (6-11, 2-2)

The Lions proved that the 2003-04 is absolutely nothing like 2002-03 in convincing fashion this past weekend with a pair of impressive wins. First, the Lions blew Dartmouth out of there own arena, crushing the Leon Pattman-less Green, 78-42, Friday night. Then, Columbia repeated the trick Saturday night, winning its second straight game in double digits, 78-67, at Harvard. In beating the Crimson, Columbia completed a come-from-behind victory for the first time this season, as sophomore forward Dragutin Kravic had an enormous second half, scoring thirteen of his 21 points in the game. The Lions visit Yale and Brown this weekend before returning home for four straight.

Cornell Big Red (9-8, 4-0)

The Red has continued to show its tremendous resiliency, coming back to win after trailing by at least fourteen points twice this past weekend. After coming out sluggish against a Harvard team playing its first game back from exams, the Red rallied to turn a fifteen-point first half deficit into a 91-79 road victory. Then, trailing Dartmouth by fourteen early on Saturday night, Cornell again picked it up in the second half to win 68-62. Ka’Ron Barnes and Cody Toppert maintained their one-two positioning at the top of the league’s scoring leaders, averaging 23.5 and 22.5 ppg, respectively, this past weekend. It is the first time since the 1964-65 season that the Red has opened Ivy League play with four straight wins. Cornell will hope to extend the streak when it faces its toughest test thus far this season with visits to Brown and Yale.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-15, 1-3)

Leon Pattman may be a stud, but the Green keeps sinking. Several injuries forced junior Mike Liddy and sophomore Pat Cuttica into the lineup Friday night, while Pattman, junior Steve Callahan, and sophomore Mike Lang all sat with various injuries. Things got so desperate for head coach Dave Faucher Saturday night, as he brought Pattman and the also-injured sophomore forward Calvin Arnold back into the lineup for Cornell. But, it was to no avail as the Red came out with a win anyway to hand Dartmouth its third straight league loss and eighth overall. The Green will have the unenviable task of trying to break the streak against Princeton and Penn this weekend.

Harvard Crimson (2-15, 1-3)

Playing its first game in sixteen days, the Crimson raced out to a very fast start last Friday against Cornell, but quickly returned to earth as its fifteen-point halftime lead turned into 91-79 loss. The story was nearly identical the next night. Again, Harvard had a big lead early, remained ahead by double digits late in the first half, and collapsed in the second half, this time falling to Columbia, 78-67. It was the first time since the 1992-93 season that Harvard lost both ends of the Cornell-Columbia series. Junior forward Jason Norman was impressive Saturday night, scoring seventeen points against the Lions, while sophomore forward Mat Stehle had a double-double Friday against Cornell. The Crimson will now hit the road for matchups against Penn and Princeton.

Penn Quakers (7-8, 0-2)

Penn simply did not look or act like the Quakers of old this past weekend, as a 23-game conference winning streak unceremoniously ended in southern New England. Penn lost a couple of close, hard fought battles to Yale (54-52) and Brown (92-88) to fall to 0-2 in conference play for the first time since the 1981-82 season. Despite the overtime loss Saturday in Providence, all five Penn starters scored in double figures, the first time this season the team accomplished the feat. Junior guard Tim Begley was the high-man with 25 points while freshman Mark Zoller and senior Jeff Schiffner each added seventeen. When the Quakers were last 0-2 in conference play, they came back to win the next twelve games to finish the season at 12-2 and with the league championship. The team will attempt to begin a repeat that performance this weekend, when it welcomes Harvard and Dartmouth.

Princeton Tigers (9-6, 2-0)

Unlike its travel partner, Princeton completed a sweep over Brown and Yale. Friday night, the Tigers had little trouble with the Bears, cruising to a 64-49 victory. Things were not nearly as easy the next evening, though, as it took a Will Venable three-point play in the game’s final seconds to push the Tigers past a surging Yale squad, 49-47. Strong defense and rebounding was the difference for the Tigers, who outrebounded their opponents by a combined 65-44. Princeton held Brown and Yale to a combined 36 percent from the floor as well. The Tigers hope to continue the stifling defense against a pair of struggling teams this weekend in Dartmouth and Harvard.

Yale Bulldogs (6-11, 1-3)

The Bulldogs broke their eight-game losing streak against Division I opponents in style last weekend by winning a 54-52 thriller at home against Penn. And just to prove that Friday’s win wasn’t a fluke, the Elis played Princeton down to the wire Saturday night in a game that featured thirteen lead changes. Even after Will Venable completed the three-point play that put the Tigers up by two with three seconds remaining, Yale still almost managed to salvage the win as a desperation half-court shot by junior guard Alex Gamboa narrowly missed. The suddenly rejuvenated Elis will play host to upstart Columbia and Cornell this weekend. Friday’s game against the Lions will feature a matchup of brothers, as head coach James Jones will coach against his younger brother Joe for the first time in their careers.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

Going into this season, no one expected that Yale would struggle like it did last season. With a mature, healthy roster and the collective memory of both winning the league and falling back to mediocrity, the Elis, it seemed, were primed for a repeat of 2001-02, not last season. The team’s preseason NIT showing against Connecticut only helped confirm that expectation. Then the calendar turned to December and things have not been nearly the same. It began with an embarrassing 71-57 home loss to Fairfield on Dec. 7 and has not ended since. Yale has now lost eight consecutive games to Division I opponents, including its last two to travel partner Brown. With Penn and Princeton upcoming, the road gets even more daunting. And title contention now seems out of the question.

Meanwhile, with Harvard and Princeton returning from exams, this weekend marks the beginning of the league’s annual six-week run of “Ivy Weekends.” As the only conference to use the travel partner Friday/Saturday scheduling format, all eight teams will be in action every Friday night and every Saturday night until the end of the season on March 6. On tap this weekend: Columbia and Cornell visit Dartmouth and Harvard; while Penn and Princeton play Brown and Yale.

How They Stand

Brown and Cornell sit tied atop the league standings, having swept travel partners Yale and Columbia, respectively. Penn and Princeton have yet to begin conference play, while Dartmouth and Harvard split their series earlier this month. While still early, this weekend could be critical in figuring the final results of the season. As the Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, Columbia and Yale are likely out of contention at 0-2 thus far.

Game of the week:

Brown vs. Penn; Sat., Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m. EST.

First meeting of the season between last year’s top two teams. The ex factor will be Brown junior guard Jason Forte, who is playing like a man with something to prove this season, arguing a very effective case as the league’s top point guard.

Player of the Week

Mike Martin, Brown

Martin scored a season-high 19 points – including 13 in the second half – to help Brown to its second win of the season against Yale. He had five 3-pointers on the game, including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in his explosive second half. His efforts capped an impressive home performance by Brown, which swept Yale for the second straight year.

Rookie of the Week

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

The freshman guard had yet another huge week, scoring back-to-back 29-point games last week in losses to Vermont and Hartford. Pattman scored the most combined points in consecutive game of any Dartmouth freshman ever in winning his second consecutive Rookie of the Week nod. It is the fourth time this season he has been so honored.

Brown Bears (6-9, 2-0 Ivy)

Unlike the game in New Haven a week earlier, there was little doubt that Brown would roll past Yale on Jan. 23. The Bears completed the season series sweep, 77-65, to move to a perfect 2-0 in league play. Jason Forte scored a game high 22 points with eight assists. Senior guard Mike Martin, senior forwards Pat Powers and Jaime Kilburn have all substantially improved their shooting since earlier this season, as the Bears have now won three straight heading into a home weekend against league favorites Penn and Princeton.

Columbia Lions (4-11, 0-2)

After leading Cornell by thirteen points at halftime in their own gym on Jan. 24, the Lions completely collapsed in the second half, allowing Cornell to cruise to a 66-53 win to sweep the season series between the New York State rivals. Sophomore forward Dragutin Kravic scored 10 points and added four rebounds in only 22 minutes while junior forward Matt Preston led the team with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Columbia out-rebounded Cornell, 42-29, but also committed eighteen turnovers in the loss. The Lions will attempt to end their conference losing streak at nineteen when they visit cellar dwelling Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

Cornell Big Red (7-8, 2-0)

For the second consecutive season, Cornell opened the season with consecutive victories over travel partner Columbia. And like last season, the Red had to contend with a huge challenge at Levien Gymnasium. Last year, the Red blew a large halftime lead to barely pull away with a victory. This time, it was the Lions who held a lead at the half, but Columbia was unable to hold on, as the Red outscored Columbia, 44-18, in the second half to secure the 66-53 victory. Senior guard Ka’Ron Barnes had a game-high 18 points, and continues to lead the league in scoring with 20.4 ppg. The game came as a relief for Cornell, which had lost its five previous road games, including one on Jan. 20 at Bucknell which saw the Red shoot a dismal 29 percent on the game. More road tests await Cornell, which travels to Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-13, 1-1)

Leon Pattman has been named Rookie of the Week four times this season. Unfortunately for the Green, he is the team’s lone bright spot in a season characterized by continued struggles. After beating Harvard on Jan. 3, Dartmouth has lost its last six consecutive games, including a set of ten-point losses last week. The Green fell at Colgate (70-60), and in Hanover to Vermont (76-66) and Hartford (78-68). Pattman scored 29 in the latter two games to raise his season average to a team-leading 13.4 points per, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of production around him. In each of these losses, Dartmouth has been within reach throughout before allowing the opponent to go on a late run, making the losses even more painful. The good news for the Green though, is the return of sophomore guard Mike Lang, who returned against Vermont after missing five games due to a stress fracture. The Green plays host to Columbia and Cornell this weekend.

Harvard Crimson (2-13, 1-1)

The Crimson’s sixteen-day exam layoff will end on Jan. 30 when Cornell comes to town. This game will be an important one for Harvard on many levels, due in part to the status of injured center Brian Cusworth. The 7-0 sophomore has yet to play this season due to a stress fracture in his left foot, and having already missed over half the season, there is a possibility that he will now take the remainder of the year off and apply for a fifth year of eligibility. Though it is struggling, Harvard has won at least one game of every home Cornell-Columbia series since the 1992-93 season, a trend it will hope to continue.

Pennsylvania Quakers (7-6, 0-0)

Before Penn can get into its Ivy League season, it must complete its Philadelphia Big 5 season, which ended last week in disappointment. The Quakers fell to Temple on Jan. 21, 73-69, at home to finish 1-3 in Big 5 play. The team shot only 39 percent from the floor in the loss, despite four players scoring in double figures. Junior guard Tim Begley scored 22 points, while senior guard Jeff Schiffner returned to the radar screen with fourteen points and a career-high eight assists. Penn opens its Ivy season this weekend when it visits Yale and Brown. The Quakers will be putting their 23-game conference winning streak on the line.

Princeton Tigers (6-6, 0-0)

Princeton’s final warm-up before the start of conference play was an 86-48 romp over Division III Southern Connecticut Monday at Jadwin Gym. Sophomore center Mike Stephens scored a game-high 16 points starting in place of Judson Wallace, while junior guard Will Venable added thirteen. The game was never in doubt after the Tigers raced out to a 48-18 halftime lead. Princeton will open its conference season with visits to Brown and Yale this weekend, before returning home for seven of its next nine games.

Yale Bulldogs (5-10, 0-2)

Since Yale’s strong showing against Connecticut and in the Marist Classic early in the season, things have just not been the same. Eight consecutive losses later, the Bulldogs find themselves teetering on the brink of another lost season with Penn and Princeton coming to Lee Amphitheater this coming weekend. The problem for Yale has simply been turnovers – the Elis have committed nearly 50 more than their opponents, a statistic that was most glaring in the two losses to Brown.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

It was a week of ups and downs for the Ivy League, as the conference prepares to dive into conference play beginning this weekend. The ups belonged to Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Penn, while the week was a downer for Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale. Columbia experienced a little of both. After losing a very winnable game to cross-town rival Fordham, the Lions came back five days later to blow Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham off the court, thus doubling last year’s win total. We’ll just overlook the fact that all the Lions really accomplished by pounding the Devils was to push the Ancient Eight’s record against D-III opponents to 5-0, but who’s counting?

The coming week will be a quiet one. As Princeton and Harvard break for exams, the rest of the conference will meander its way to the beginning of the spring semester. But the spring semester means conference games, which will account for two of the five games on tap for this, the third week in January.

How They Stand

With two sets of travel partners set to kick off conference action this week, we figured there’s no better time than the present to introduce our weekly look at the Ivy standings.

At the moment, Dartmouth and Harvard are tied for, well, everything. Both the Big Green and Crimson are 1-1, having already completed their season series. Notable about the match up: Dartmouth broke a seven-game skid against the Crimson on Jan. 3 at the Leede Arena. Seven days later, Harvard won its second out of its last three contests, topping the Green 60-49 at Lavietes. The Crimson is now 2-12 on the season.

Game(s) of the Week:

Brown visits Yale on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m., while Cornell hosts Columbia on Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. It will be the conference openers for all four squads.

Player of the Week

Ka’Ron Barnes, Cornell

The senior point guard became the first member of the Big Red to be named Player of the Week twice in a season since John McCord in the 1996-97 season, averaging 27.5 points, 6.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals in Cornell’s two games. He dropped a season-high 28 on Lehigh Jan. 6 before leading the team with 27 points, including four 3-pointers in Cornell’s road loss to New Mexico on Jan. 9. Barnes leads the league in points (21.2), assists (5.9), and steals (2.2) so far this season.

Rookie of the Week

Mark Zoller, Penn

Zoller continues to make a name for himself, having now started five consecutive games for the front-running Quakers. He averaged 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, as Penn went 1-1 for the week. Zoller scored ten points with seven rebounds and three steals in Penn’s 88-68 thumping of Lafayette Jan. 7. He is shooting 50 percent from the field, and averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds this season.

Brown Bears (4-9)

After getting blown away by Wake Forest, 86-47, on Jan. 6, Brown finished up its non-conference schedule on a high note, beating up on Central Connecticut, 79-58, on Jan. 9. In just his sixth game since returning from knee and foot surgery that prematurely ended his 2002-03 season, senior guard Mike Martin had his best game of the season, scoring eighteen points and adding six rebounds and six assists against the Blue Devils.

When Brown returns to action at Yale on Jan. 16, it will be down a couple of players. Sophomore guard Adam Braun is out indefinitely with an ankle injury, while classmate Ben Logan has left the team to concentrate on academics. Logan is the third player to leave the Bears this season, after G.J. King and Jordan Jhabvala left the team just days prior to the start of the season. The Brown roster now stands at twelve.

Columbia Lions (4-9)

Trailing by 20 points midway through the second half Jan. 6, Columbia fought almost all the way back against Fordham. Unfortunately for the Lions, almost is only good enough in horseshoes. After trailing by just one with under a minute left in the game, the Lions unraveled, going cold from the field, and Fordham hit three of four free throws down the stretch to ice the game. With their 77-45 win over Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham on Jan. 11, the Lions doubled last seasons win total and recorded their largest margin of victory since Nov. 27, 1999. Sophomore Dodson Worthington scored sixteen points and classmate Dragutin Kravic added fifteen in the victory. Junior Colin Davis’s six offensive rebounds tied the league high for the season. Columbia visits Cornell Jan. 17 before returning home to complete the home-and-home with the Red on Jan. 24.

Cornell Big Red (5-7)

Led by the high scoring trio of senior Ka’Ron Barnes and juniors Cody Toppert and Eric Taylor, the Red will enter conference play on Jan. 17 having won two of its last three games. Barnes scored 28 points in the Red’s 89-76 come-from-behind victory against Lehigh, while Toppert scored 23. Despite Cornell’s 74-65 loss in the Pit at New Mexico on Jan. 9, the Red stuck with the Lobos almost all the way. Cornell trailed by only five points at the half, and came within eight points of the lead with a minute left in the game. Albuquerque native Toppert scored 20 points in his homecoming, but the Red struggled down the stretch due in large part to a lack of inside depth. Junior forward Gabe Stephenson, who injured his knee in the Red’s 70-62 victory against St. Francis (Pa.) on Jan.3 has left a hole in the Red’s lineup which junior Steven Marcetic has attempted to fill. Stephenson is expected to return for the second game against Columbia on Jan. 24.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-9, 1-1 Ivy)

The Green shot only 27.3 percent from the floor in its 60-49 loss to Harvard on Jan. 10. It was the second meeting this season between the travel partners, completing the traditionally early series. In that loss and another to Holy Cross early in the week, the Green totaled 35 turnovers and played very streaky basketball, as both opponents went ahead big with second-half runs. Against Harvard, it was an 18-3 run beginning with twelve minutes left in the second that spelled Dartmouth’s doom. The game had been knotted at 31 prior to the Crimson’s streak. Freshman Jonathan Blakley continues to improve for the Green following a bout with mono. He started against both Holy Cross and Harvard.

Harvard Crimson (2-12, 1-1)

Harvard opened the season with eleven straight losses, but has since won two of three, including its first home win of the season, Jan. 10 against Dartmouth. The Crimson, trailing by five points midway through the second half, went on a 23-3 run to jump ahead, 49-34. Sophomore forward Matt Stehle led the scoring with eighteen points in 33 minutes after being limited by foul trouble in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 3. Harvard will conclude its non-conference slate on Jan. 14 against Sacred Heart before heading into exams.

Penn Quakers (6-5)

While the rest of the Ivy League may have had trouble with Lafayette, Penn gave Lafayette plenty of fits of its own, winning 88-68 Jan. 7. Senior Adam Chubb led the team with seventeen points and eight rebounds, while the Quakers shot 51 percent from the field in the victory. Four freshmen, led by Rookie of the Week Mark Zoller totaled 31 combined points. Zoller scored ten points and Ibrahim Jaaber added eight. The Quakers’ momentum came to an end on Jan. 10, as they fell 77-72 in overtime to Rider. Penn shot 47 percent from the floor, but allowed fifteen second-opportunity points. Penn had 24 assists on 27 baskets in the game, as junior guard Tim Begley led the team with nine assists. He averages 3.9 assists per game this season to lead the team, a stat good enough for fifth in the league. The Quakers visit Big 5 rival La Salle on Jan. 14 and host Temple on Jan. 21, as they wait for travel partner Princeton to finish exams before beginning Ivy play.

Princeton Tigers (6-6)

The Tigers had no difficulty dispatching Monmouth on Jan. 7 in Jadwin Gym. For Minnesota on Jan. 10, it was a different story. Princeton suffered its second near miss to a big-name program in three games, falling 57-53 in Williams Arena. Trailing only 50-48 with 1:31 left in the game, the Tigers were called for a costly offensive foul, allowing the Golden Gophers to reclaim control of the game and go on to claim the win. Princeton was led by junior forward Andre Logan’s sixteen points plus thirteen from junior center Judson Wallace. Since Princeton’s 74-54 victory over Loyola on Dec. 29, the team has demonstrated much stronger offensive play, led in large part to a reduction in three point attempts. Nine games into the season, the Tigers were 21.7 attempts per game. That number is now down to 20.4 attempts. Princeton is a perfect 6-0 when shooting 50 percent or better and 0-6 when shooting below 50 percent. The Tigers will take a week off for final exams.

Yale Bulldogs (5-8)

It was the same old story for Yale on Jan. 7 against Rhode Island. The Elis fell behind early, couldn’t get anything going inside, and were unable to stick around long enough in the second half to challenge for the lead. Thus, the Bulldogs lost their sixth straight game, despite strong play from senior forward Paul Vitelli, who scored fourteen points in his return to the starting lineup, replacing injured freshman Sam Kaplan. Fortunately for Yale, the schedule had a treat in store on Jan. 10, as the Bulldogs hosted SUNY-Old Westbury in their final non-conference game of the season. Against Old Westbury, Yale teed off, soaring past the D-III opponent, 89-59. Fourteen different players scored for Yale, led by junior guard Edwin Draughan’s seventeen points. The Bulldogs shot 71.1 percent from the floor, the team’s best percentage since recording a team-record .716 against Swarthmore in 1989. The Bulldogs host Brown on Jan. 16 in the conference opener for both teams, a game to be televised on the YES Network.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

As if only to quiet any doubters, Penn resumed its familiar post as the Ivy League frontrunner with a stellar non-conference performance in the 2003 portion of its season. Following their Holiday Festival tournament championship, the Quakers stand at a non-so-impressive, but conference-leading 5-4 record, prepared to lead the rest of the Ancient Eight into conference play later this month.

But don’t expect Dartmouth to follow the crowd into its Ivy slate. In the traditional early conference opener, the Green snuck past struggling Harvard Jan. 3 to stake an early claim to first place in the league standings.

Meanwhile, others throughout the league continue to mend from injuries as the final non-conference week of the season begins.

Player of the Week

Ed Persia, Princeton

Persia averaged 20.5 points over two games to lead the Tigers to a 1-1 record against Loyola (Md.) and No. 7 Oklahoma. He went 15-for-26 from the field for the week, scoring a career-high 22 points against Loyola before leading the team with nineteen points in Princeton’s near-upset of the Sooners on Jan. 3.

Rookie of the Week

Leon Pattman, Dartmouth

Pattman, a guard from Memphis, was named Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week after his 16-point performance in the Green’s win against Harvard. Pattman led a furious first-half rally that allowed the Green to take a 29-28 lead into the break after trailing by as many as twelve points. He added six rebounds and two steals to the winning effort.

Brown Bears (3-9)

The Bears finally broke their losing skid with an inspired performance at Stony Brook on Dec. 30. Senior swingman Pat Powers scored a game-high 25, including seventeen in Brown’s 57-point second half to race past the Seahawks, 90-79. Unfortunately for head coach Glen Miller, the losing continued following the team’s first win since November, as the Bears dropped their next two contests at Hartford and No. 3 Wake Forest. Senior Mike Martin made his first start of the season against Hartford on Jan. 4 after returning from injury in late December. He scored nine points in the 70-63 loss. The Bears became the Demon Deacons’ tenth straight victim on Jan. 6, falling 86-47 in Wake Forest’s 25th straight home victory.

Brown will play host to Central Connecticut on Jan. 9 in its final non-conference game of the season.

Columbia Lions (3-9)

December 28 was a momentous day for Columbia’s basketball program. Even though all the Lions did was manage a narrow 72-69 victory against Prairie View A&M in the consolation game of the Golden Bear Classic, the win was Columbia’s third of the season, and thus a 50 percent improvement over last year’s win total. Junior forward Matt Preston recorded the first double-double of his career in the win, pouring down 21 points and eleven rebounds to lead the team. Sophomore Dragutin Kravic contributed 20 points and nine rebounds of his own.

The Lions then proceeded to lose their next three straight, including an 88-51 shellacking at the hands of Washington on Dec. 30, an 82-73 loss to Lafayette on Jan. 3, and 61-57 loss to local rival Fordham on Jan. 6. The Lions wrap up their non-conference schedule on Jan. 11 with an afternoon home tilt against Farleigh Dickinson.

Cornell Big Red (5-6)

Within the space of a week, the Red stumbled in overtime, struggled against inferior competition, and then began to redeem itself. After dropping road contests to St. Francis (N.Y.) and Duquesne by a combined three points just before New Year’s, Cornell returned home Jan. 3 to oust St. Francis (Pa.), 70-62. The Red followed up that performance on Jan. 6 with a huge second half to beat Lehigh, 89-76. Four Cornell players scored in double digits, led by senior guard Ka’Ron Barnes’ 27 points. Junior Cody Toppert added 23, while sophomore Lenny Collins scored a season-high 15.

Cornell will face a stiff challenge on Jan. 9, when it travels to The Pit to take on New Mexico in a homecoming for Toppert.

Dartmouth Big Green (3-8, 1-0 Ivy)

After a 71-58 loss to Ohio State on Dec. 28, Dartmouth began the new year with the season’s first conference game – a 56-54 win over travel partner Harvard. Junior center David Gardner scored twelve points, including eleven in the second half, to lead the Green. His lay up with 3:41 remaining in the second half gave the Green a 50-49 lead it would not relinquish. In addition, freshman Leon Pattman scored sixteen with six rebounds and two steals. Pattman scored a pair of three pointers in the victory.

On Jan. 6, the Green fell to Holy Cross at home, 60-52. The game was tied as late as nineteen minutes into the second half, before the Crusaders’ Nate Lufkin hit a lay up to give Holy Cross the lead for good. Pattman again scored sixteen points and added a career-best thirteen boards. Junior Steve Callahan led all scorers with seventeen points.

Harvard Crimson (1-12, 0-1)

Harvard snapped its longest losing streak since the 1991-92 season with a 58-53 victory at San Jose State on Dec. 30, but failed to carry the momentum into the League opener, falling to Dartmouth 56-54 on Jan. 3. The Crimson had won the last eight consecutive meetings between the two squads. During its win at San Jose State, the Crimson snapped a streak of 23 consecutive free throws spanning three games. The run began with the final two attempts from the charity stripe against Rider, and then continued as Harvard went 14-for-14 against Stanford. The Crimson proceeded to convert on its first six chances against San Jose State.

Sophomore center Brian Cusworth, who continues to be troubled by a stress fracture in his left foot, may return for Harvard’s Jan. 10 game against the Green.

Pennsylvania Quakers (5-4)

The Quakers won the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden for the second time in eight appearances, winning a pair of nail-biters against St. John’s and Manhattan. In the tournament opener Dec. 28, senior Jeff Schiffner drove the lane against Darryll Hill to score the game-winner in double overtime. In the final against Manhattan the next night, freshman Mark Zoller provided a tremendous lift to the exhausted Quakers, scoring twelve points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals in his third career start to help Penn to a 49-47 victory. Schiffner was named the tournament MVP and junior guard Tim Begley was a member of the all-tournament team.

Penn plays host to Lafayette on Jan. 7 and will visit Rider on Jan. 10. The two teams have a combined 6-0 record against Ivy League opponents thus far this season.

Princeton Tigers (5-5)

The Tigers continued in what is becoming an annual tradition for them, giving a top-10 team the scare of the season, this time nearly pulling the upset over Oklahoma on Jan. 3. Princeton had a chance to tie the game late, when senior guard Ed Persia’s three-point attempt was off the mark. The Tigers staged a strong comeback after trailing by 56-43 with less than ten minutes remaining, but the Sooners were able to hold off the charge. Persia scored a game-high nineteen points, including fifteen in the first half, after which the Tigers held a 27-26 lead.

In Princeton’s five losses this season, the Tigers had a chance to tie or take the lead within the final ten seconds in four. The losses have come against teams with a combined 39-10 record. The Tigers play host to Monmouth on Jan. 7 before visiting Minnesota on Jan. 10 in the team’s final game before its exam break.

Yale Bulldogs (4-7)

Yale has continued to struggle after opening the season with a 4-2 record. The Bulldogs dropped games on the road to South Carolina and American on Dec. 30 and Jan. 3, respectively, by a combined score of 143-121. Despite the losses, Yale continues to shoot well from the field, going 27-for-52 against American with a season high-tying ten three-pointers. Junior center Dominick Martin is shooting .616 from the field on the season, including .721 in the last five games. Classmate Alex Gamboa led the team with fifteen points in the Elis 59-48 loss to South Carolina, and is averaging 53.2 from the floor over his last six games.

The Bulldogs visit Rhode Island Jan. 7 in another stiff non-conference test, and then complete their pre-Ivy League slate Jan. 10 at home against SUNY-Old Westbury.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

While millions dug out of the weekend’s snowstorms in the Northeast, the arenas of the Ancient Eight remained relatively quiet, as most of the Ivy League’s schools took a break for exams. But the league’s players didn’t take time out to watch the snow fall. Few games on the schedule means teams are now resting up for a last spurt of non-conference activity before the “real” season starts in the coming weeks. And so the Ancient Eight sat on its snow-covered campuses, taking final exams and biding its time before the true tests begin.

Player of the Week

Dominick Martin, Yale

Martin, who transferred to Yale from Princeton a year ago, is wasting no time in showing how important a commodity he can be in the low post. He scored a team-high 14 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting in the Bulldogs’ loss to St. Peters, also posting three rebounds, two blocks, and two assists. Eight games into the season, he leads the squad in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg), and shooting (55.0 percent from the field).

Rookie of the Week

Gerald Barrett, Columbia

Despite the Lions’ fourth loss of the season last Monday against Lehigh, Barrett continued to shine. He scored eight points with six rebounds in only 20 minutes of the Light Blue’s three-point home loss. The forward is averaging 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds for the young team in limited action so far.

Brown Bears (2-5)

The Bears had the week off after returning from an eventful – though certainly not productive – trip to Ohio on Dec. 6. Senior guard Patrick Powers leads the squad with 13.0 points per game, and freshman Sam Manhanga leads all league rookies with 24.7 minutes per game. Senior guard Mike Martin, who has been sidelined since late last season, is hoping to make his return to the Bears on Dec. 21 against Holy Cross. It will be Brown’s first game back following its exam break. Following that, Brown will return home to host Wright State on Dec. 28 before closing out 2003 at Stony Brook on Dec. 30.

Columbia Lions (1-4)

With the pressure of ending a nearly year-long winning streak lifted with a Dec. 2 overtime victory over Sacred Heart, the Lions promptly lost their next two games heading into the exam break. But after Lehigh broke Columbia’s heart with a clutch three-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the game, Dec. 8, the Light Blue is confident it will be well prepared to enter its next portion of the season. The Lions again hit the court with visits to Stony Brook Dec. 20 and Villanova Dec. 22, before they head out to the Golden Bear Classic hosted by California-Berkley on Dec. 27 and 28. Columbia will remain out west to visit Washington on Dec. 30 to wrap up the year.

Cornell Big Red (3-3)

So far in this young season, the Red has looked pretty sharp, albeit against less-than-overwhelming competition. The schedule will only get tougher now, as Cornell will face its first in a series of tough tests on Dec. 20 against Lafayette. It will be the first of four matchups against Ancient Eight foes for the Leopards, who will also face Columbia, Princeton, and Penn later in the season. Senior guard Ka’Ron Barnes is second in the league with 18.5 ppg, and is tops in both assists (5.5) and steals (2.5). Junior forward Gabe Stephenson has been a pleasant surprise for the Red, averaging a league-high 8.0 rebounds in his return from two years plagued by injury.

Dartmouth Big Green (2-5)

Dartmouth, which unlike its Ivy brethren operates on a trimester academic calendar, returned from exams on Dec. 14 with decidedly unfavorable results. The Green shot an ice-cold 14.3 percent from three point land in its 56-45 loss to New Hampshire. The bright spot again was sophomore guard Mike Lang, who lead the team with 15 points off the bench. He was 7-of-12 from the floor on the night, and currently leads the team with 11.8 ppg. After Tuesday night’s 68-65 overtime win at Maine, the Green will host Lehigh on Dec. 20 before paying a visit to Ohio State on the 28th. Dartmouth will host Harvard on Jan. 3 in the traditional opener of conference play.

Harvard Crimson (0-8)

Things went from bad to worse for the Crimson last week, as it dropped consecutive contests to Boston University, Colgate, and Vermont by a combined total of 68 points. Harvard suffered its first loss in over a decade Dec. 9, when BU wiped the floor with the Crimson, 86-42. It was the most lopsided loss for the Crimson since losing to a Duke team that featured Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and Bobby Hurley, 118-65, on Nov. 30, 1991. Junior guard Kevin Rogus has continued to be the lone positive for Harvard. He scored 29 points in the 78-60 loss to Colgate, a career-high. He has scored in double figures in ever game thus far and is third in the Ivy League with 16.5 points per game. The Crimson has continued to be plagued by second-half breakdowns and foul trouble, as the week’s losses extended the team’s losing streak to eight games. Up next is a visit to local rival Northeastern on Friday before the Crimson returns home on Monday to play host to Rider.

Penn Quakers (2-4)

The Quakers’ startling early-season woes continued on Dec. 9, with a 73-63 home loss to Big 5 rival Villanova. Senior center Adam Chubb led the team with 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half of the loss. Yet despite Penn’s struggles thus far, the team has played the most challenging schedule in the Ivy League, including games against three ranked opponents. The Red and Blue has also excelled from beyond the arc, shooting a blistering 40.5 percent, compared to 25.0 percent by Penn’s opponents. Senior Charlie Copp, junior Eric Heil, senior Jeff Schiffner, and junior Tim Begley are all among the top twelve three-point shooters in the league. Copp is second in the conference at .519. After an 11-day layoff for exams, the Quakers visit Bucknell on Dec. 20 in their return to action before participating in the ECAC Holiday Festival Dec. 28-29 at Madison Square Garden.

Princeton Tigers (4-2)

The Tigers returned from a short layoff on Dec. 13 to face its toughest test so far against Rutgers in the battle of New Jersey. Unfortunately for Princeton, a game-tying shot attempt at the buzzer by junior Andre Logan was off the mark, and Rutgers held on to a 51-49 victory. The story of the game was the return to significant action of Logan, who was sidelined in the season’s early going after suffering a self-inflicted hand injury following the New York Yankees’ ALCS victory over the Boston Red Sox. Logan, a Yankee fan, suffered some cuts from broken glass while he was attempting to put a Yankees banner on an eating club window. Logan scored a season-high 11 points in the loss to Rutgers.

Additionally, junior center Judson Wallace has continued his torrid pace, scoring 26 points in three of the team’s six games. The last Princeton player to score at least 26 points three times in a career was Kit Muller.

The Tigers will again face a stiff challenge in No. 4 Duke Wednesday night in a game televised on ESPN2. Princeton will then host Lafayette on Dec. 22 before completing 2003 on Dec. 29 at Loyola (Md.).

Yale Bulldogs (4-4)

The Bulldogs suffered their second disappointing loss on Dec. 11, this time at the hands of St. Peters. Yale fell, 80-78, in overtime despite one of the best shooting performances of the season. The team shot 58.9 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from three-point range. Six different players scored three pointers for the Elis, including senior forward Paul Vitelli, who leads the team with 10 three pointers on the season. He is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc. Junior center Dominick Martin has scored a double-double in every game so far this season, and is shooting 58.6 percent from the field.

Yale will face its third straight MAAC opponent on Dec. 20 when it hosts Niagra, before the team takes 10 days off for the holidays.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

A couple of Ivy League teams picked up their first wins of the season, while others continued their previous patters of play, as the Ancient Eight entered the month of December with a vengeance this past week.

But though none of the conference’s teams has played 10 games yet, the cream is already clearly rising to the top. The first four spots in the standings, not surprisingly, are occupied by Princeton, Yale, Cornell, and Penn, respectively. As those four build confidence and cohesiveness with an eye to the start of the Ivy schedule in January, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard are falling fast. In a conference expected to be highly competitive this season, such a degree of polarity is startling to say the least.

However, there is still plenty of basketball to be played, and the best of the conference’s action – both in conference and out – is likely yet to come.

Player of the Week

Matt Preston, Columbia

The Lions’ junior forward continued his breakout year, scoring more points in the past week (45) than he did in all of 2002-03 (39). In two games, Preston averaged 22.5 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Lions to their first win in almost a year, an 85-79 overtime victory at Sacred Heart. In that game, Preston poured in a career-high 27 points. He is now averaging 17.3 points – fourth-best in the league – on 69.4 percent shooting from the floor and 94.4 percent at the foul line.

Rookie of the Week

Graham Dow, Cornell

The diminutive Canadian made a statement against D-III rival Ithaca College on Dec. 2 then followed it up with another strong performance during the Red’s northern New England sojourn over the weekend. In three games, Dow averaged 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in only 22 minutes per game. In Cornell’s 83-67 win at New Hampshire, Dow scored 12 points with six rebounds, and five steals. Dow is tied with teammate Lenny Collins for seventh in the conference with 1.5 steals per game.

Brown Bears (2-5)

The Bears dropped another two games to stretch their losing streak to three after starting the season 2-2. Senior Patrick Powers scored a game-high 16 points in a 66-62 home loss to Rhode Island on Dec. 3, a game in which the Bears nearly pulled the upset. Junior guard Jason Forte was absent for the Dec. 3 game and most of the Dec. 6 loss to Ohio University after he suffered an ear injury in Brown’s loss to Maine on Nov. 29 in the title game of the Maine Invitational. Forte scored nine points off the bench in the Bears’ 71-62 loss to Ohio.

After a horrific blizzard-plagued trip home from Ohio, the Bears will take a three-week break for final exams before resuming their season Dec. 21 at Holy Cross.

Columbia Lions (1-4)

Joe Jones’ team picked up its first win in almost a year – since the Lions beat Texas-El Paso last Dec. 27 – a 85-79 overtime thriller at Sacred Heart on Dec. 2. Four days later, the Lions opened their home season with a match-up against local rival Hofstra on Dec. 6 as New York City was pounded by the season’s first snowfall. After jumping out to an early 11-2 lead, Columbia, like the temperatures outside, cooled off to allow the Pride to come back and tie the game. The Lions stuck around until the very end, but Hofstra avoided the upset with a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to claim the 58-55 victory.

The Lions wrapped up their brief homestand on Dec. 8 with a 60-57 loss to Lehigh, and will return to action after exams with a Dec. 20 visit to Stony Brook.

Cornell Big Red (3-3)

For the third straight year, Cornell defended its status as Ithaca’s dominant basketball program with an impressive 69-37 blowout of D-III Ithaca College. After that one-night visit to fantasy land, the Red returned to reality on Dec. 5 with a visit to defending America East champion Vermont. Unfortunately for Cornell, though, a sluggish start proved too much to overcome, as the Catamounts rolled to a 73-60 victory. The Red rebounded nicely two days later with an emphatic 83-67 road win at New Hampshire. Cornell has now had a 3-pointer in 402 consecutive games.

With the win at New Hampshire, Cornell heads into the exam break on a high note, and will return to action on Dec. 20 with a visit to Lafayette.

Dartmouth Big Green (1-4)

It was a fairly quiet week for Dartmouth, but one that featured a couple of firsts for the Green in this young season. In the Green’s home opener, the team picked up its first win of the season – an 85-60 bombing of D-III Tufts – following two weeks of frustrating close losses. Sophomore guard Mike Lang went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc to score a career-high 21 points. He also had seven steals, just one short of the school record. Juniors Mike McLaren, Steve Callahan, and David Gardner also scored in double figures.

The Green now breaks for exams, and will return to action on Dec. 14 against New Hampshire before visiting Maine on Dec. 16.

Harvard Crimson (0-5)

Harvard entered this season prepared for the prospect of rebuilding with a pretty inexperienced squad. However, the Crimson thought that it would be facing such a task with the help of sophomore center Brian Cusworth. Cusworth, who averaged 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in limited late season playing time as a freshman last season, has missed every game thus far. Without his presence down low, Harvard has lost every game so far this season, including two this past week to Maine and Lehigh. However, after anemic offensive production in the early going, the Crimson has found baskets easier to come by of late. Harvard scored 78 points in its 89-78 loss to Maine, and then scored more than in any other game this season in the 88-79 Lehigh win on Dec. 6. The Crimson will attempt to continue that upward trend with games against Boston University, Colgate, and Vermont coming up.

Pennsylvania Quakers (2-3)

The Philadelphia Big 5 always provides some of the most entertaining basketball Division I has to offer. Penn’s Dec. 6 match up with No. 11 St. Joseph’s was no exception. After falling far behind early, the Quakers made a furious comeback attempt, even pulling within three points of the lead at one point, but came up short, falling 67-59 in the second half of a Big 5 doubleheader in the Palestra. Charlie Copp followed up with his 3-point spree against Indiana State with another four against St. Joe’s. The Quakers will host another Big 5 rival, Villanova, on Dec. 9 before taking an eleven-day break for exams. Penn will visit Bucknell when their season resumes on Dec. 20 before heading north on I-95 for the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

Princeton Tigers (4-1)

The Tigers have continued to roll in this young season, led largely by the efforts of junior center Judson Wallace. He averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds over three games, a stretch in which Princeton went 2-1. The Tigers’ first loss of the season came Dec. 5 in the first game of the MacCaffrey Classic as Cal-Irvine’s Adam Parada hit a lay up with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to give the Anteaters a 57-55 victory over Princeton in the tournament opener. Princeton, however, came right back the next night to oust Fresno State in the consolation game, 72-67, led by Wallace’s 26 points. Previously, the Tigers won their first road game of the season on Dec. 2 at UMBC by a convincing 68-56 margin. Senior forward Konrad Wysocki led the team with a season-high 15.

The Tigers will visit in-state rival Rutgers on Dec. 13 before invading Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 17.

Yale Bulldogs (4-3)

After pounding Sacred Heart on Dec. 4, 73-59, behind 16 points from junior guard Alex Gamboa, Yale suffered its first major disappointment of the season on Dec. 7, as it fell at home to Fairfield, 71-57. The Bulldogs pulled to within four points, at 47-43, with as little as 8:25 remaining in the game, but the Stages responded with a 13-3 run to run away with the lead and the game. Matt Minoff scored 10 points with five rebounds, three, assists and four blocks in the game to maintain his status as the top defensive big man in the league. He is currently second in the Ancient Eight with nine blocks, trailing only Harvard’s Matt Stehle. Additionally, he is tied for second in the conference with 10 steals.

The Elis continue their string of games against MAAC opponents on Dec. 11 against St. Peters, and will host Niagra on Dec. 20 in their first game back after exams.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Owen Bochner

The theme of this young season for the Ivy League has been a valiant (though usually unsuccessful) attempt to play with the big boys. One look at the early non-conference schedules of several Ancient Eight squads gives the impression that maybe these teams have eyes slightly bigger than their stomachs. Then again, the performance on the court justifies the high ambitions.

Start with Yale. No one expected the Elis to be anywhere in the same time-zone as in-state rival UConn in the Preseason NIT two weeks ago, least of all the then No. 1 Huskies. But the boys from New Haven had other plans, even taking a small lead into halftime before Connecticut woke up and won the game, 70-60. The Bulldogs continued their strong play, hammering Eastern Michigan and Coastal Carolina to win the Marist Classic the following weekend.

Cornell put on a similar performance in its home opener against Georgia Tech on November 23. For 30 minutes, it looked as if the Red was primed to pull off the upset, until Tech’s superior athleticism took over late in the second half. Of course, the Yellow Jackets moved on to bigger and better things, beating UConn and Texas Tech the following week for the Preseason NIT championship.

Brown and Penn also began auspiciously, with the Bears visiting Texas and the Quakers hosting Wisconsin. Like their Ivy pals Cornell and Yale, Brown and Penn lost. Unlike Cornell and Yale, though, these games were not exactly close. The then No. 11 Longhorns blew Brown away, 89-51, while No. 15 Wisconsin had no trouble with either the Palestra or the Quakers, winning the road contest, 64-53. But Penn rebounded. After slipping past local rival Drexel on November 24, the Quakers went 1-1 at the Coca-Cola Classic in East Lansing, falling to host Michigan State, 77-52, before beating up on Indiana State, 86-48, in the consolation game. Charlie Copp made a statement on the perimeter, hitting his fist six three-point attempts of the game. He bested his previous career high of eleven points with the quick eighteen to lead the Quakers over their Big East rival.

Player of the Week
Judson Wallace, Princeton

The Tigers’ junior has picked up right where he left off at the end of last year – as a dominating low post presence and a most prolific scorer. In Princeton’s wins over Colgate and Holy Cross, Wallace averaged 29.5 points per, shooting a red-hot 75 percent from the field. In the Tigers’ 74-63 victory over Colgate, Wallace posted a double-double with 11 rebounds, and then added nine more boards in Princeton’s 61-55 win against Holy Cross a week later.

Rookie of the Week
Sam Manhanga, Brown

Coming off the bench to open his collegiate career, Manhanga has proven that he is no slouch in the court time he does see, averaging a team-leading 12.8 points per game in only 20 minutes per game. He was one of only two Bears players in double digits in the season-opening loss to Texas (10 points), and set a career high of 20 points in Brown’s first win of the season in the Maine Invitational. He also added six rebounds as Brown beat Maine-Fort Kent, 95-73, in the opening round of the tournament.

Brown Bears (2-3)

It’s been a struggle thus far for Brown, which has dropped three of its first five games, winning only one against a Division I opponent. With the graduation of Earl Hunt and Alai Nuualiitia after last year, Brown has already felt the effects on offense, as points have been rather difficult to come by for the Bears. The team shot only 30 percent from the floor in its 89-51 loss to Texas, barely showing any improvement in that department four days later in the 69-53 loss at Rider. The Bears shot 33 percent to the Broncos’ 37 percent. Points started to come a little more easily once Brown returned home November 25 in a 63-57 victory over Wagner.

The Bears will look to continue their upswing when they host Rhode Island December 3 and travel to Ohio December 6 before breaking for exams.

Columbia Lions (1-2)

New coach Joe Jones’ rebuilding project got off the ground with a couple of losses to area opponents. The Lions’ second half surge in the season opener against Army fell short, as the Black Knights pulled out a 63-57 win in Jones’ debut. Columbia seemed to be on the verge of upsetting Manhattan in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on November 24, coming within two points of the lead early in the second half. However, the Lions shooters went cold in the second half, allowing Manhattan to pull out the 72-57 victory. Jones finally did pick up his first career victory December 2 against Sacred Heart, as junior Matt Preston hit five of six free throws in overtime to push the Lions over the host, 85-79.

Columbia’s travels continue on December 6 with a visit to local rival Hofstra, where Jones was once an assistant, before the Lions open their home schedule on December 8 against Lehigh.

Cornell Big Red (2-2)

Despite dropping its first two games of the season, the Red has shown that it will be a force to be reckoned with thus far. A diverse offensive attack has taken the pressure off of senior Ka’Ron Barnes, who was depended upon heavily as a scorer last season. After dropping its opener against Georgia Tech, Cornell battled back after trailing Colgate by as many as 10 with 12 minutes to go in the second to force overtime. However, the Raiders hit all eight of their free-throws in the extra period to claim the 84-77 win. Cornell had no trouble picking up its first win of the season against Army in a neutral site game in Rochester, N.Y., as 2003 Ivy Rookie of the Year Lenny Collins posted a career-high 18 points. The Red returned to Ithaca December 2 to demolish Division III Ithaca College, 69-37, in an intra-city battle to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer. Freshman Graham Dow made his presence felt for the first time, scoring eight points and a career-high nine rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.

Cornell will travel to Vermont and New Hampshire on December 5 and 7, respectively, for a couple of serious road challenges before breaking for exams.

Dartmouth Big Green (0-4)

Dartmouth is 0-4 but could very easily be 4-0 at this early point in the season. All four losses have been within four points, and three of the losses were decided with less than eight seconds remaining the game. Accordingly, the Green has played very well so far. Four players have posted career highs in various categories so far, including junior center David Gardner, sophomore forward Jason Meyer, sophomore forward Calvin Arnold, and Freshman guard Leon Pattman.

The Green will host Division III squad Tufts in its home opener December 4 before breaking 10 days for exams. Dartmouth returns to action in a New Hampshire state tripleheader in Manchester on December 14 against the University of New Hampshire.

Harvard Crimson (0-4)

The Crimson has had a tough ride thus far in the season, and is off to its worst start in over a decade. Much of this is due to the inexperience factor – only Jason Norman had ever started a college game before this season – and Harvard’s greenness is showing. The Crimson was totally outclasses in losses to Fairfield, Holy Cross, New Hampshire, and Maine. Of course, being without 7-0 center Brian Cusworth for all four of those contests has not helped.

Harvard will take a brief respite from New England competition on December 6 with it visits Lehigh, before returning to the region to face Boston University on December 9.

Pennsylvania Quakers (2-2)

Head coach Fran Dunphy went out of his way when scheduling the Quakers’ 2003-04 season so as to ensure an adequate non-conference challenge. Mission accomplished. The Quakers got off to a bumpy start, but have played some very high quality opponents over their first four games. No. 14 Wisconsin came into the Palestra in Penn’s opener and emerged with an 11-point win. After bouncing back three days later with a 79-73 victory over local rival Drexel, Penn turned its attention to the Coca Cola Classic and a game against No. 8 Michigan State. Not surprisingly, the Spartans had no trouble dispatching the Quakers, 77-52. The next day, Penn evened its record in the consolation game with an 86-48 thrashing of a decimated Indiana State team in a match up that saw Charlie Copp pour in eighteen points in the game’s first eight minutes.

Do things get easier for the Quakers now? Not exactly. On December 6, the Quakers will welcome Big 5 rival No. 11 St. Joseph’s to the Palestra, the third top-15 squad Penn will play in the season’s opening weeks. Penn completes this stretch at home on December 9 against another Big 5 rival, Villanova.

Princeton Tigers (3-0)

Princeton has feasted early on some less than stellar competition, including the first back-to-back home games to start a season since 1989-90. In the team’s wins over Colgate, Holy Cross, and UMBC, junior center Judson Wallace has been a force to be reckoned with. Named Ivy League Player of the Week for his efforts, Wallace has averaged well over 25 points per game thus far.

The Tigers’ schedule will become increasingly difficult, as it heads west to participate in the McCaffrey Classic at Fresno State December 5 and 6. Princeton is slated to tip off against California-Irvine and the host, before continuing its road swing the week after with visits to Rutgers and No. 7 Duke.

Yale Bulldogs (3-2)

The Bulldogs have played by far the Ivy League’s toughest schedule so far and have come through it quite admirably. After putting a hell of a scare into then No. 1 Connecticut in the Preseason NIT, Yale came back to win the Marist Classic, then bounce Patriot League rival Bucknell in the span of five days. The Bulldogs returned to earth with a 86-61 “home” loss to No. 19 Wake Forest in a game played in Bridgeport, Conn. Junior guard Edwin Draughan, named the MVP of the Marist tournament, is shooting a blistering 61 percent from the floor and is second on the team with 14 points per game. Classmate Dominick Martin leads the team with 15.6 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Yale hosts Sacred Heart and Fairfield on December 7 and 11 respectively before visiting St. Peters in its final game before the exam break.

Ivy League Preview

Ivy League Preview

by Owen Bochner

The Ivy League must really be feeling like chopped liver right now. All this hype and hoopla for the recent meetings of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, at which the nation’s college basketball programs basically agreed on one thing: let’s be ethical. Ethics has never been a problem in the Ivies. Maybe that’s because as members of the only D-1 conference that doesn’t award scholarships of any form, student-athletes still play basketball in the Ivies for all the right reasons – because they love it.

Of course playing basketball in the Ivy League comes with a whole separate set of challenges. Like an extra-rigorous academic course load, the expectation that athletics will be only a part of the college experience, and a whole set of restrictions unique to the Ancient Eight. The ever-controversial seven-week rule has been changed for 2003-04, allowing the 49 required off days to be distributed throughout the year however coaches see fit. This change is viewed as a victory for student-athlete groups at each of the conference’s eight members.

Not to be overlooked, though, is the fact that the Ivy League remains one of the most exciting and competitive basketball conferences in the country. After many of last season’s stars graduated, the stage is set for a whole new group of players to come forward and impress this season. Pennsylvania, despite some big losses, will likely again lead the pack, but don’t rule out some strong runs from surprising sources.

Ivy League Honor Roll

First Team
Jeff Schiffner, Sr., F, Penn
Jason Forte, Jr., G, Brown
Ka’Ron Barnes, Sr., G, Cornell
Tim Begley, Jr., G, Penn
Matt Minoff, Sr., G-F, Yale

Second Team
Lenny Collins, So., F, Cornell
Judson Wallace, Jr., F, Princeton
Eric Taylor, Jr., F/C, Cornell
Edwin Draughan, Jr., G, Yale
Brian Cusworth, So., C, Harvard

Ivy League Player of the Year: Jeff Schiffner, Penn

Ivy League Rookie of the Year: Ibby Jaaber, Penn

Most Improved Player: Tito Hill, Columbia

Coach on the Hot Seat: Dave Faucher, Dartmouth

Projected Finish

1. Pennsylvania Quakers (22-6, 14-0 Ivy; 1st)

The Quakers suffered some important losses to graduation this offseason, but make no mistake, Fran Dunphy’s squad remains the favorite to win its third straight Ivy title. Unanimous All-Ivy first teamer Jeff Schiffner takes the reins as Penn’s go-to guy this season, and will be joined by Tim Begley to form the Ancient Eight’s most formidable back court.

Penn will again play one of the most challenging schedules in the conference this season. The non-conference slate is highlighted by two high-caliber tournaments – the Coca Cola Classic at Michigan State, which features Michigan State, Indiana State, and DePaul; and the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, showcasing St. Johns, Manhattan, and Holy Cross. In addition, the Quakers will welcome the likes of Wisconsin to The Palestra in addition to the always challenging list of Big 5 and Ivy opponents.

Key losses:
Ugonna Onyekwe (graduated)
Koko Archibong (graduated)
Andrew Toole (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Steve Danley (Fr. F)
Ibby Jaaber (Fr. G)
Ryan Pettinella (Fr. F)
Mark Zoller (Fr. G/F)

Projected Starters:
Tim Begley (Jr. G)
Jeff Schiffner (Sr. G)
Charlie Copp (Sr. G)
Jan Fikiel (Jr. F)
Adam Chubb (Sr. C)

2. Yale Bulldogs (14-13, 8-6; 4th)

Head coach James Jones’ first recruiting class comes of age this season for the Bulldogs, as the coach’s original five recruits will all graduate at year’s end. There is added urgency, then to perform this season. Yale graduates three of the key ingredients to the squad’s first back-to-back winning seasons in over 10 years. However, the starting backcourt of Edwin Draughan and Matt Minoff returns, as does 2002 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Alex Gamboa. Expectations will be high in New Haven, as the Elis play a challenging schedule, yet one that is much more favorable than last year’s. Games against Connecticut and Wake Forest highlight the road schedule, while Yale will host Sacred Heart and Fairfield in December.

Key losses:
Ime Archibong (graduated)
Chris Leanza (graduated)
T.J. McHugh (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Casey Hughes (Fr. G/F)
Sam Kaplan (Fr. F)
Dominick Martin (Jr. C)
John Shumate (Fr. G)

Projected Starters:
Edwin Draughan (Jr. G)
Alex Gamboa (Jr. G)
Matt Minoff (Sr. F)
Paul Vitelli (Sr. F)
Dominick Martin (Jr. C)

3. Cornell Big Red (9-18, 4-10; t-5th)

Cornell’s youth movement will attempt to reach fruition this season, as head coach Steve Donahue’s first recruiting class enters its junior year. The Red has been hampered by injuries throughout each of the past two years, but will look to remain healthy after a summer in the weight room with strength coach Tom Howley. Virtually the entire roster returns, including second-team All-Ivy selection Ka’Ron Barnes, and 2003 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Lenny Collins. The highlight of the Red’s schedule is undoubtedly the season opener, a home contest against Georgia Tech on Nov. 23. It will be the first time an ACC opponent visits Ithaca since the 1990-91 season. Historically a hockey-crazed school, Cornell will look to make some noise on the hardwood for the first time in quite a while.

Key losses:
Steve Cobb (left team)
Casey Gibbons (transferred)
Jacques Vigneault (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Graham Dow (Fr. G)
Stevan Marcetic (Jr. F)
Jason Mitchell (Fr. F)
Andrew Naeve (Fr. C)
Dane Williams (Fr. F/C)

Projected Starters:
Ka’Ron Barnes (Sr. G)
David Lisle (So. G)
Cody Toppert (Jr. F)
Lenny Collins (So. F)
Eric Taylor (Jr. C)

4. Princeton Tigers (16-11, 10-4; 3rd)

Head coach John Thompson III sees several similarities between this Tiger squad and the one that won the Ivy League championship in 2000-01. A lot will have to go right at Old Nassau for this prophesy to come true. Behind Ed Persia and Will Venable, Princeton boasts a strong back court, and center Judson Wallace is one of the league’s more versatile inside presences. However, the Tigers will play a very challenging schedule, including road games against Duke, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. In addition, Princeton will be forced to overcome some off-court distractions that have seem to become commonplace over the last several months. After forward Spencer Gloger was forced to leave the team in February due to falling below academic standards and a plethora of transfer rumors surrounding Andre Logan, the team learned on Oct. 17 that Logan would be out for at least two months after tearing several ligaments in his hand in an incident on campus.

Key losses:
Spencer Gloger (academically ineligible)
Ray Robbins (graduated)
Kyle Wente (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Edwin Buffmire (Fr. G)
Patrick Ekeruo (Fr. F)
Luke Owings (Fr. F)
John Reynolds (Fr. C)
Michael Rudoy (Fr. F)
Harrison Schaen (Fr. F)
Max Schafer (Fr. G)

Projected Starters:
Ed Persia (Sr. G)
Will Venable (Jr. G)
Judson Wallace (Jr. F)
Konrad Wysocki (Sr. F)
Mike Stephens (Jr. C)

5. Brown Bears (17-12, 12-2; 2nd)

One season after advancing to the NIT, the Bears will be hard pressed to make a repeat appearance. While Brown does return the Ivy League’s most electrifying guard in junior Jason Forte, the losses of guard Earl Hunt and forward Alai Nuualiitia – two of Brown’s top three all-time scorers – will be too difficult to overcome. Much of the responsibility for compensating for the absence of these stars will fall on senior guard Patrick Powers, who is an excellent shooter with a propensity to produce big scoring games. Senior Jaime Kilburn will look to make up for Nuualiitia’s scoring in the low post.

Brown’s schedule features road contests against Texas and Wake Forest. The Bears will also welcome Wagner, Rhode Island, Wright State, and Central Connecticut to the Pizzitola Sports Center before embarking on its Ivy slate in late January.

Key losses:
Earl Hunt (graduated)
Alai Nuualiitia (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Sam Manhanga (Fr. F)
P.J. Flaherty (Fr. F)
Marcus Becker (Fr. G)
Kameron Chones (Fr. G)

Projected Starters:
Jason Forte (Jr. G)
Patrick Powers (Sr. G)
Mike Martin (Sr. G)
Jaime Kilburn (Sr. F)
G.J. King (Jr. F)

6. Dartmouth Big Green (8-19, 4-10; t-5th)

Years of sharing occupancy in the Ivy cellar could be near the end for Dartmouth, which has slowly worked to develop a deep, experienced roster. Of the Green’s nine juniors and sophomores, several already have substantial playing experience, including the starting backcourt of Steve Callahan and Mick McLaren. In addition senior center Scott Klingbeil provides a solid presence down low and has already shown a propensity to deliver when the pressure is on, as evidenced by his clutch late-game free throws against Columbia last season. Like much of the Ancient Eight, Dartmouth will challenge itself with a very difficult schedule before opening conference play in January. On tap for the Green are trips to Honolulu for the Hilo shootout in November, and to Maine and Ohio State in December.

Key losses:
Greg Friel (graduated)
Charles Harris (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Jonathan Blakley (Fr. F)
Trey Blincoe (Fr. G)
Paul Bode (Fr. C)
Matthew Green (Fr. G)
Leon Pattman (Fr. G)

Projected Starters:
Steve Callahan (Jr. G)
Mike McLaren (Jr. G)
Mike Lang (So. F)
David Gardner (Jr. F)
Scott Klingbeil (Sr. C)

7. Harvard Crimson (12-15, 4-10; t-5th)

The Crimson turns over 80 percent of its starting lineup. ‘Nough said. Among the team’s losses are the Ivy League’s all-time assist leader (Elliott Prasse-Freeman), the league-leading rebounder of last season (Sam Winter), and Harvard’s 12th leading all-time scorer (Patrick Harvey). Expected to step up for the Crimson will be junior captain Jason Norman and sophomore center Brian Cusworth, each of whom saw significant time down the stretch last year. However, as head coach Frank Sullivan works to develop many of the squad’s younger players, some growing pains are inevitable.

Harvard’s most challenging non-conference games will come during a late-December trip to California, when the Crimson will visit Stanford and San Jose State. Other than that, the schedule has a decidedly local flavor, with games against New England foes such as New Hampshire, Maine, Boston University, Vermont, and Northeastern.

Key losses:
Patrick Harvey (academically ineligible)
Brady Merchant (graduated)
Elliott Prasse-Freeman (graduated)
Brian Sigafoos (graduated)
Sam Winter (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Brian Darcy (Fr. F/C)
Jim Goffredo (Fr. G)
Ko Yada (Fr. G)

Projected Starters:
Kevin Rogus (Jr. G)
David Giovacchini (Jr. G)
Jason Norman (Jr. F)
Graham Beatty (Jr. F)
Brian Cusworth (So. C)

8. Columbia Lions (2-25, 0-14; 8th)

After a season that it seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong, Columbia will start anew this season, as head coach Joe Jones begins his tenure on Mourningside Heights. Fortunately for Jones, he inherited a young, athletic team from his predecessor, Armond Hill. Twelve players return for the Lions, including guards Tito Hill, who played in all 27 of Columbia’s games last season, and leading returning scorer Jeremiah Boswell. Jones also brings in five newcomers, two of whom are walk-ons.

Columbia’s schedule will also feature several tough tests in this transition year, with games against Manhattan, Hofstra, Fordham, and Jones’ former employer Villanova. In addition, the Lions will participate in the Golden Bear Classic hosted by California-Berkeley in December, and also pay a visit to the University of Washington following the tournament.

Key losses:
Marco McCottry (graduated)
Chris Wiedemann (graduated)

Key newcomers:
Drew Barron (Fr. C)
Gerard Barrett (Fr. F)
John-Michael Grzan (So. G)
Porter Leslie (So. F)
Ivan Marnika (Fr. F)

Projected Starters:
Tito Hill (Jr. G)
Jeremiah Boswell (Jr. G)
Chris Owens (Sr. F)
Dragutin Kravic (So. F)
Dodson Worthington (So. C)

Final Thoughts

The Ivy League will again likely belong to Penn this season. Some coaches are just very successful in maintaining success over the long team, and the Quakers’ Fran Dunphy is certainly one of them. One thing is for sure, though. This season will be one for the youth movement, which is going on at every school in the conference. Expect a highly competitive season from the Ancient Eight, and with so many teams playing such difficult out of conference opponents, don’t be surprised to see the Ivies receive some at-large bid to the NCAA and NIT tournaments come March.

Ivy League Offseason Update

Ivy League Offseason News Update

by Owen Bochner

More Restrictions, Less Restrictions: The annual Ivy Group Council of Presidents meeting in June brought some good news and some bad news to Ancient Eight athletes and teams. The bad news is a tightening of admissions standards for varsity athletes, including placing a cap on the number of athletes enrolled during each four year period. However, the seven-week off rule, instituted by the Council in 2002, has been modified to allow more regular off-season practice time. The original incarnation of the rule required that all teams take seven weeks off from team-related activity during the academic year and stated that the minimum number of consecutive off days be seven. The newly modified rule still requires that all athletes take 49 days off from athletic activity – including official and captain’s practices, team meetings, organized weight training, etc. – but now the days do not have to be consecutive. This change is viewed as no small victory by student-athlete groups at each of the Ivy League schools.

Just say YES: After a successful one-year trial run, the Ivy League and the YES Network agreed in June on a two-year contract extension. Under the agreement, YES will produce and televise five Ivy football games and six basketball games in each of the next two years. YES also has an option for the 2005-06 season. Spero Dedes and Tate George were behind the mike for the first season of Ivy hoops on the network. Broadcasters for 2003-04 have not yet been announced.

Brown

Bare Bears: After winning 14 of its last 16 games to place second in the Ivy League behind Penn and a berth in the NIT, Brown lost two stars in guard Earl Hunt and forward Alai Nuualiitia to graduation. Both were first-team All-Ivy players, who, along with Jason Forte, comprised the first trio of first teamers in school history.

No Love: Providence College dropped the Bears from their 2003-04 schedule, instead scheduling Big 10 powerhouse Illinois on Dec. 9, the date originally allotted for the intra-city rivalry matchup.

Columbia

Coaching Carousel: What started with the worst athletic year in the history of the Ivy League resulted in major changes at the top for the Lions’ men’s basketball program. Armond Hill was fired March 10 after an embarrassing 2-25 record (including 0-14 in league play.) Joseph Jones was hired to replace Hill in late April, joining his brother, Yale coach James Jones in the Ivy coaching fraternity.

Joseph Jones named his coaching staff in early June, tabbing Jim Engles of Rider, Mike Bramucci of Manhattan, and Chris Parsons as his assistant coaches. Jones’ regime also began a vigorous recruiting process, securing two commitments for the Class of 2008 by mid-September. Hill, meanwhile, rejoined the Atlanta Hawks on Sept. 29, when he was named as an assistant coach under Terry Stotts.

Shortening the Chain of Command: University president Lee Bollinger reformed the administrative structure of the athletic department in July, placing the department under his direct authority. Previously, athletic director John Reeves reported to the provost, Jonathan Cole, who was replaced over the summer by former history professor Alan Brinkley.

Cornell

From the Land Down Under: The Big Red took a 10-day tour of Australia in May, playing four games in Sydney and Cairns. Cornell went 3-1 on the trip, defeating the New South Wales Under-18 All-Star team, 140-80; the Sutherland Sharks, 110-69; and the Cairns Marlins, 102-98. The Red lost the third game of the trip, falling to Kuyiam Pride, 115-109. Junior Cody Toppert averaged 29.8 points per game on the trip, while second-team All-Ivy selection Ka’Ron Barnes chipped in 23 ppg.

Quite a Scare: Gabe Stephenson has recovered now after being involved in a street altercation in his hometown of Denver over the summer. Stephenson was attempting to diffuse a confrontation, when he was attacked from behind. He sustained a concussion, a broken nose, a broken arm, and received 50 stitches in his lip. All of these injuries have since healed completely and Stephenson is expected to challenge for a starting job in Cornell’s frontcourt this season.

Un-Burdened: Former top assistant coach Mike Burden left Cornell in July to take a similar job with Florida International. In response to Burden’s departure, head coach Steve Donahue promoted assistants Joe Burke and Izzi Metz up one spot each on the staff. Burke will serve now was Donahue’s right-hand man, while Metz takes over the primary recruiting responsibilities. Paul Fortier, a former standout forward at the University of Washington, was named to the staff in September.

Dartmouth

Doubly Tragic: Former Dartmouth star Brian Randall killed himself and three of his four children in September after losing a custody battle with his wife. Randall drove his car in front of a moving tractor trailer outside of Orlando, Fla., in an attempt to kill himself and his two older children. He killed his younger children previously by drowning them in a pond near his home.

Changes on Fauch’s Staff: Brian Curtin and Roger Carroll joined head coach Dave Faucher’s staff over the summer. Curtin was hired to replace Matt Allen, who left the Big Green to take a similar job at Western Carolina, while Carroll joined the staff as a volunteer assistant.

Harris to Germany: Charles Harris signed a professional contract with Wuppertal, and will continue his basketball career in that Dusseldorf suburb this winter. Harris served as the Green’s captain this past season. He led the team in scoring (12.2 points per game) and rebounding (4.7 rebounds per game) in 2002-03.

Harvard

Winter time: Ivy League leading rebounder Sam Winter signed a pro contract with SAV Vacallo in Switzerland in August. He led the league with 8.1 rebounds per game last season. He was also second on the Crimson with 12.2 points per game.

Freeman for Humanity: Elliott Prasse-Freeman was awarded the Burr Scholarship in June following a stellar four-year career with Harvard. The Burr Scholarship is awarded to a Harvard senior athlete “who combines as nearly as possible Burr’s remarkable qualities of character, leadership, scholarship, and athletic ability.” Prasse-Freeman will use the scholarship to continue his work with the Habitat for Humanity, and to work on research he began last summer in Thailand on Burmese refugee camps.

Penn

High Honors for Ugonna: Penn standout forward Ugonna Onyekwe was named an honorable mention All-American, as well as a unanimous first-team All-Ivy and league player of the year. Onyekwe finished the season second in the league with 16.5 points per game.

Buenos Dias: The Quakers took a trip to Spain in August, winning four of six games. Penn beat Pozuelo, 75-68; Rayet Guadajara, 75-63; and Unicaja Malaga, 82-74, and 83-59. The Quakers lost to CB Granada, 86-82; and CB Tarragona, 89-63. Senior Jeff Schiffner led the team with 16.0 points per game over the trip, while senior Adam Chubb averaged 8.0 rebounds to lead the Quakers.

L.A. Dreams: After trying out with the Phoenix Suns, All-Ivy performer Koko Archibong signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in August. Archibong recorded 14.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game his senior year at Penn. In addition, Onyekwe spent several weeks with the New York Knicks during the summer before being released in July.

Princeton

Logan Gone?: The Times of Trenton reported in late April that forward Andre Logan had decided to transfer from Princeton to Ivy rival Yale this offseason. However, several Tigers players and head coach John Thompson III denied the report, acknowledging only that Logan had discussed transferring in the past. They maintained, though, that no transfer decision had been made.

Nate for Gov: Former Princeton player Nate Walton threw his name into the mix in the recent California recall election, running as an independent candidate. Walton, who is the son of basketball legend Bill Walton and the brother of Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers, is currently a graduate student in business at Stanford.

Yale

High Hopes: Head coach James Jones continued his efforts in scheduling a top-quality non-quality schedule for the Bulldogs, as he included games against Connecticut and Wake Forest this season. Yale will open the season against Connecticut in the first round of the preseason NIT on Nov. 17. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs will again challenge themselves against Wake Forest at the Arena at Harbor Yard in nearby Bridgeport, Conn. This season’s schedule will also feature non-conference games at home, something that was missing last year. The Elis open at home against Sacred Heart on Dec. 4. Last season, Yale played its first 10 games on the road.

Dudley Retires: Yale alum Chris Dudley called it a career in September after 16 years in the NBA. Dudley spent time with Cleveland, New Jersey, Portland, New York, and Phoenix, mostly as a backup center. His biggest impact, though, was off the court where he devoted much of his time to children. In 1994, he began the Dudley Foundation, which operates a basketball camp for children with juvenile diabetes. Dudley was diagnosed with Type I diabetes when he was 16.

Ivy League 2002-03 Season Recap

Ivy League 2002-03 Season Recap

by Phil Kasiecki

The Ivy League was fresh off a big season last year, and with much of the league’s talent returning, expectations were sky high this season. Three teams saw postseason play in 2001-02 as the conference finished 13th in the RPI ratings, and it would not have surprised anyone if three teams went again this season.

But what resulted didn’t quite go with the preseason expectations. Brown got off to a fast start in league play, but then it looked like it might come down to Pennsylvania and Princeton once again. Brown put that to rest by knocking off Princeton for the second time during the next-to-last weekend of the season, marking the first time Brown ever swept Princeton. Pennsylvania swept through the league, while Brown finally got the results it was looking for with its talent and experience. Much was expected of Yale, but the Bulldogs never had any consistency and fell back to fourth place with an 8-6 league record.

In the second division, Harvard played well in non-league games, before getting off to a slow start in league play and never recovering. Cornell made some strides forward, as did Dartmouth, and both should continue to make inroads in future seasons. Columbia had a disastrous season, winning just two games and becoming the first school to not win an Ivy League game in both football and men’s basketball in the same year.

In terms of individual talents, the league wasn’t appreciably more guard- or forward-oriented. The Ivy League continues to have teams that play a style revolving around good ball movement, passing, getting and making open shots, and more team-oriented basketball as opposed to 1-on-1. This isn’t likely to change anytime soon, even as players in the league get quicker, more athletic and stronger with time, much like throughout college basketball.

Without further adieu, here is a look at teams in postseason play.

NCAA Tournament
Pennsylvania – Oklahoma State (L 77-63)

NIT
Brown – at Virginia (L 89-73)

And now, here are our postseason league awards.

First Team All-Ivy
Jason Forte, So. G, Brown
Earl Hunt, Sr. G-F, Brown
Alai Nuualiitia, Sr. F, Brown
Ugonna Onyekwe, Sr. F, Pennsylvania
Jeff Schiffner, Jr. G, Pennsylvania

Player of the Year

Earl Hunt, Brown

After an injury slowed him early, Hunt was on fire once he was able to recover. He would lead the Ivy League in scoring en route to becoming Brown’s all-time career scoring leader, finishing fourth in the Ivy League in that category, and surpassing 2,000 career points. He was again the go-to guy for the Bears and led them to their second-place finish and NIT bid.

Freshman of the Year

Lenny Collins, Cornell

Collins was an easy choice after claiming Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors seven times during the season. He led all Ivy freshmen in scoring and rebounding, and will be a key component of the Big Red’s attempts at climbing the conference ladder the next few years.

Defensive Player of the Year

Jeff Schiffner, Junior, Pennsylvania

Schiffner certainly gets attention because he’s a deadly three-point shooter, but the junior guard also shows his mettle at the defensive end. He uses his size well and is good both on and off the ball, and often had the task of guarding the opposing team’s top offensive player.

Coach of the Year

Fran Dunphy, Pennsylvania

There was no clear winner in this category, but give Dunphy credit for what he did with this team. Early on, the Quakers did not play well, and looked like they might disappoint. But he was able to get the team back on track as they finished the non-conference schedule on a strong note, then rolled through the Ivy League undefeated.

Brown Bears (17-12, 12-2)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 2/3
Key players departing:
Earl Hunt (graduating)
Alai Nuualiitia (graduating)

Key players returning:
Jason Forte (So. G)
Patrick Powers (Jr. F)
Jamie Kilburn (Jr. F)
Luke Ruscoe (Fr. F)
Harold Bailey (Jr. G)
G.J. King (So. C)

Key injuries: Guard Mike Martin missed most of Ivy League play after tearing his ACL

Leading scorer: Earl Hunt (19.1 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Alai Nuualiitia (5.3 rpg)
Assists leader: Jason Forte (5.3 apg)

Notes: The Bears appeared headed for another disappointing season when they opened up 1-7, but they got their act together after final exams, led by Earl Hunt. Hunt was able to heal from an early injury, then played like a man possessed as he became the school’s all-time leading scorer and just the fourth player in Ivy League history to top 2,000 career points. Nuualiitia was once again a solid complement, and Forte improved markedly, especially later in the season. Kilburn, a former starter, and Penn transfer Bailey were solid reserves, and Ruscoe showed signs of being a solid player down the road.

Columbia Lions (2-25, 0-14)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 2/3
Key players departing:
Marco McCottry (graduating)
Chris Wiedemann (graduating)
Grant Clemons (left school)

Key players returning:
Jeremiah Boswell (So. G)
Tito Hill (So. G)
Allan MacQuarrie (So. G)
Dragutin Kravic (Fr. F)
Maurice Murphy (Jr. G)
Dalen Cuff (Fr. G)
Matt Land (So. F)

Leading scorer: Marco McCottry (9.0 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Marco McCottry (7.6 rpg)
Assists leader: Maurice Murphy (1.9 apg)

Notes: After a terrible season where the young Lions struggled mightily, Armond Hill was fired as head coach. Joseph Jones, recently a Villanova assistant, was hired to replace Hill, and should prove to be a nice hire for the school. The Lions’ problems began on the offensive end, as they were the worst offensive team in Division I in averaging under 50 points per game and shooting 37.3% from the field. McCottry was one of the few bright spots, though Wiedemann was a defensive enforcer and would have led the league by far in blocked shots if he was eligible (he fell one game short).

Cornell Big Red (9-18, 4-10)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 0/5
Key players departing:
Jacques Vigneault (graduating)

Key players returning:
Ka’Ron Barnes (Jr. G)
Eric Taylor (So. F-C)
Cody Toppert (So. G)
Lenny Collins (Fr. F)
Grant Harrell (So. F)
David Lisle (Fr. G)
Gabe Stephenson (So. F-C)

Leading scorer: Ka’Ron Barnes (14.0 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Eric Taylor (7.0 rpg)
Assists leader: Ka’Ron Barnes (4.0 apg)

Notes: Although their record doesn’t look good, the Big Red had their moments this season. They had a three-game winning streak at one point, but two of those wins were against Columbia. But the Big Red had a young team, as Vigneault was the only senior, and aside from Barnes, the key contributors were all freshmen and sophomores. Barnes had a solid season at the point, while Taylor was solid up front. Toppert added good support, and Collins was the top rookie in the league. The Big Red doesn’t look like future Ivy League champions just yet, but they should only get better.

Dartmouth Big Green (8-19, 4-10)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 2/3
Key players departing:
Charles Harris (graduating)
Greg Friel (graduating)

Key players returning:
Mike McLaren (So. G-F)
Steve Callahan (So. G)
David Gardner (So. C)
Michael Lang (Fr. G)
Scott Klingbeil (Jr. C)
Calvin Arnold (Fr. F)

Leading scorer: Charles Harris (12.2 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Charles Harris (4.7 rpg)
Assists leader: Steve Callahan (2.9 apg)

Notes: The Big Green won all of their games with four two-game winning streaks. But despite their size, they had the worst rebounding margin in the league by far. Harris had a good year as the team’s top player, while Callahan capably ran the show and McLaren was a good sniper from long range. Gardner and Klingbeil didn’t give them the presence at center they needed, a prime reason for the rebounding disparity. There was speculation that head coach Dave Faucher might not be back next season, but he will return for his 13th season.

Harvard Crimson (12-15, 4-10)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 4/1

Key players departing:
Elliott Prasse-Freeman (graduating)
Sam Winter (graduating)
Brady Merchant (graduating)
Brian Sigafoos (graduating)

Key players returning:
Jason Norman (So. G)
Brian Cusworth (Fr. C)
Kevin Rogus (So. G)
Michael Beal (Fr. G)
Graham Beatty (So. F)
Matt Stehle (Fr. F)

Leading scorer: Brady Merchant (15.4 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Sam Winter (8.1 rpg)
Assists leader: Elliott Prasse-Freeman (7.7 apg)

Notes: The Crimson never recovered from four straight road losses early in the league schedule. Losing top player Patrick Harvey due to academics didn’t help matters, as they had a senior starting five that did well together, while the reserves were solid in their roles. Prasse-Freeman closed out a solid career as the Ivy League’s all-time assist leader, while Winter led the league in rebounding to close out a career of constant improvement. Merchant was the team’s go-to guy, and Sigafoos was good, though foul-prone, in the middle. The underclassmen provided some hope for the future, especially Norman, a solid defender who got more minutes by starting once Harvey was gone. Cusworth had his moments, Beatty was serviceable in the post, Beal is the team’s quickest player and had some good moments in limited minutes, Rogus tailed off shooting the ball after a good start, and Stehle showed signs of being a contributor down the road.

Pennsylvania Quakers (22-6, 14-0)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 3/2
Key players departing:
Ugonna Onyekwe (graduating)
Koko Archibong (graduating)
Andrew Toole (graduating)
David Klatsky (graduating)

Key players returning:
Jeff Schiffner (Jr. G)
Tim Begley (So. G-F)
Adam Chubb (Jr. C)
Jan Fikiel (So. F-C)
Charlie Copp (Jr. G)

Leading scorer: Ugonna Onyekwe (16.5 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Ugonna Onyekwe (6.4 rpg)
Assists leader: Andrew Toole (2.9 apg)

Notes: Much was expected of the Quakers entering the season, and at first it looked like they may have been all hype. But starting with a blowout of Temple at the Big 5 Classic, the Quakers got on a roll and swept right through the Ivy League to win another title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Onyekwe had another good year, but he never dominated or took over games. Archibong didn’t have the consistency of his junior season, while Schiffner and Begley were solid perimeter threats and Toole capably ran the show with help from Klatsky. Chubb and Fikiel were capable reserves up front. As much as the Quakers made headlines with their offense, they led the Ivy League in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense and had the top rebounding margin in the league.

Princeton Tigers (16-11, 10-4)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 2/3
Key players departing:
Ray Robbins (graduating)
Kyle Wente (graduating)

Key players returning:
Judson Wallace (So. F-C)
Will Venable (So. G)
Ed Persia (Jr. G)
Andre Logan (Jr. F)
Konrad Wysocki (Jr. F)

Key injuries: Andre Logan (knee problems limited him to three games)

Leading scorer: Judson Wallace (10.9 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Judson Wallace (5.6 rpg)
Assists leader: Kyle Wente (3.5 apg)

Notes: The Tigers were once again in the title hunt until the next-to-last weekend of the season, though they started to slump shortly after leading scorer Spencer Gloger was declared academically ineligible. They shot the ball better than any other team in the league, but the trademark defense wasn’t there as only Brown allowed opponents to shoot a higher percentage from the field. The Tigers also didn’t shoot from long range as well as they are capable of, finishing sixth in three-point shooting at just under 36%. Wallace had a nice sophomore season and has a good future, as does Venable, though Venable looks like he could do more. Wente and Persia capably ran the show, while Robins closed his career as one of four double-figure scorers. Having Andre Logan for just three games before knee problems resurfaced (he tore his ACL in 2001-02) didn’t help matters.

Yale Bulldogs (14-13, 8-6)

Number of starters leaving/staying: 3/2
Key players departing:
Chris Leanza (graduating)
T.J. McHugh (graduating)
Ime Archibong (graduating)

Key players returning:
Edwin Draughan (So. G-F)
Matt Minoff (Jr. F)
Alex Gamboa (So. G)
Paul Vitelli (Jr. F)
Mark Lovett (So. F)
Scott Gaffield (Jr. G-F)
Justin Simon (Jr. C)

Key injuries: Josh Hill played just five games before a hernia ended his season

Leading scorer: Edwin Draughan (11.4 ppg)
Leading rebounder: Matt Minoff (6.2 rpg)
Assists leader: Matt Minoff (2.7 apg)

Notes: The Bulldogs were a streaky team all season long, but really hit the skids after breaking for exams with a 5-2 record after five straight wins. Vitelli wasn’t the force on the glass he was as a sophomore, while Gamboa had a sophomore slump. But losing Josh Hill in the season’s fifth game also hurt, as they lost a guy who wasn’t afraid to mix it up inside. Leanza and McHugh finished their careers on good notes, and Draughan had another good season while still looking like he could be better. Minoff was the team’s do-everything player, ranking in the top ten in the league in four different statistical categories.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Jason Haslam

Penn takes their winning ways to the Big Dance

If you follow the Ivy League, you can’t ignore the Penn Quakers sheer dominance through the past 15 years. This past weekend the Quakers (22-5, 14-0) disposed of Columbia and Cornell, clinching the Ivy title, earning them a berth in the NCAA Tournament, and running their winning streak to 24 in Ivy play. The Quakers are one of three teams that are undefeated in conference play with Weber State and 2nd-ranked Kentucky having unblemished records as well. Coach Fran Dunphy has now guided five Quaker teams to undefeated seasons in Ivy competition, while capturing eight titles in his 14 yearlong tenure. Overall the Quakers have a 15-game winning streak and have collected victories on the road at Villanova and USC. Despite all this, they have yet to grab the attention of voters from the Associated Press, ESPN, and Hoopville Top 25 polls.

After beating Cornell last Saturday night, the Quakers celebrated with their fans and family as all converged onto the court to watch the victors cut down the net. Senior guard Andrew Toole hopped up onto the rim using as it as his own throne leading the crowd in chants. Ivy Champs!

“It feels tremendous, I’m so happy for our guys,” Dunphy said. “To do what we did last weekend was critical. We were in trouble a couple of times and somehow somebody made a big play.”

Unlike last year’s three-way tie for the crown and a one-game playoff win over Yale, the Quakers win/loss last night against Princeton, was moot in regards to the outcome of the league champion. Dunphy didn’t seem to mind the cushion they gave themselves.

“It is different, but it’s a good different and I’m grateful for that,” Dunphy said.

The wins actually hurt the Quakers RPI, dropping them down to 64, but that doesn’t matter now that they have nailed down the automatic bid in the field of 65. This “Selection Sunday, they know their name will be called, it’s just a matter of what neutral site they will be assigned and who they will matched up against. Most observers see them being a 12 or 13 seed, but that could change depending on how many upsets their are in conference tournament play. Nevertheless, the Quakers aren’t like most Ivy teams that depend on crisp ball movement and solid perimeter shooting. The Quakers strength is their one-two punch of power forwards Onyekwe and Koko Archibong. This opens up the Quakers outside shooting, led by junior Jeff Schiffner who as of last week was the top three-point shooter in the country.

Senior forward Ugonna Onyekwe Penn’s second leading scorer of all-time said, “We’re definelty taking one game at a time…We’re not looking to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Columbia shows Hill the exit sign

“If anything can go wrong this year, it just keeps going wrong. What can I say, it was a tough ride, but their are two things you can’t control: mother nature and traffic.”

Coach Armond Hill was talking in reference to the rush-hour traffic the Lions bus hit during their trek to Philadelphia against Penn last Friday night. The Lions arrived 15 minutes after the seven o’clock tip-off. The Lions were given 30 minutes to dress and warm-up for the game, as this season for Hill and his undertalented squad can’t end fast enough. However, now that it has, the school announced on Monday the dismissal of Hill, after leading them to their worst campaign in the program’s history, 2-25, including zero wins in Ivy play, the first time that has occurred since 1966 by Dartmouth. In his eight-year tenure Hill compiled a record of 72-141, including 33-79 in league play.

No players on the Lions roster managed to average more than nine points a game as they were the only team in the Division I to average under 50 points a game, with 49.6. They seemed to regress throughout the season and the 44-40 loss at Princeton marked their 18th straight defeat, a school-record. The Lions football team also failed to secure a league win, marking the first time that a school has lost all its league game in both sports the same year.

“It’s been a tough, tough season and it’s not any of their faults, I mean their giving me what they have, of course I’m asking for more. The only thing you can do is continue to encourage them and keep fighting, play with heart and play together, and if you continue to do that it allows you to stay in the games, and that’s all i was asking them to do,” Hill said.

Bears have their sights set on the NIT

Brown ended its season on a high note by beating Dartmouth 79-67 and Harvard 93-80 this past weekend to secure themselves second place and a possible bid in the National Invitational Tournament. The Ivy’s leading scorer, senior guard Earl Hunt scored his 2000th point in the win over Dartmouth, and became just the fourth player in league history to reach the plateau. Overall, Hunt has accumulated 2,030 points, with a chance to add to that if the Bears(17-11, 12-2) get a bid to the NIT. Last year, the Ivy League was represented by two teams, Princeton and Yale. The Bears 12 wins are the most from a team other than Penn or Princeton, since Columbia won 12 in 1968. Like the streaking Penn Quakers, the Bears have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Senior center Alai Nuualiitia set a school-record by starting all 109 games in his career as a Bear. He numbers on the year are impressive averaging 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and was second in the league in shooting at 61percent.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Jason Haslam

Ivy Round-Up

The Quakers maintained supremacy in the Ivy League and have all but locked up their fourth conference title in five years with wins at Brown 69-65 and Yale 80-75 this past weekend. Coach Fran Dunphy, the all-time winningest coach in Penn history is now on the verge of winning eight Ivy titles in his 14 years at the helm.

In a game that had critical implications on the Ivy crown, the Quakers displayed their experience in putting away the Brown Bears and extending their lead in the conference by two games, with just three left in the season. The Quakers (19-5, 11-0) shot a blistering 60 percent from the field, led by senior forward Koko Archibong, who was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, totaling 17 points and four rebounds. Despite shooting just 40 percent from the field, the Bears (15-11, 10-2) kept the game close thanks in part to forcing 20 Quaker turnovers. Senior guard Earl Hunt, the league’s leading scorer, led all players with 26 points and six rebounds in front of a sellout of 2,800 at Pizzitola Center.

The Quakers next game is Friday when last-place Columbia visits the Palestra. In their first matchup, the Lions kept pace with the Quakers eventually falling 47-40. But the Lions will be playing for pride and a chance to spoil the Quakers pristine record. The Quakers have an RPI of 55 and by winning their final three games will only enhance their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which will either be a number 12 or 13 seed.

Since the Quakers have all but locked up the Ivy title, their season finale showdown with Princeton will be lacking some of its intensity. Especially after the dismissal of Tiger star forward Spencer Gloger.

Following a win over Yale 61-52, the Tigers were dismantled by Brown 88-74, marking the first time ever that the Bears have swept the Tigers. The Bears finish their season on the road at Dartmouth and Harvard. If they manage to win both games, they will have 12 league wins, marking the first time since 1968, that a school other than Penn or Princeton had as many victories. Although the Bears have very slim chances of winning the league, coach Glen Miller should be a top candidate for Ivy League Coach of the Year, while Earl Hunt needs just 54 points to become only the fourth player ever to reach 2,000 points.

After winning their first two league games Cornell was 7-8 and in position to at least make things interesting in the league. However, the Big Red lost seven of the next eight thus falling out of contention. They lost those seven games by a margin of 14.4 points, yet on February 7 they almost stunned Penn, losing 70-67. The Big Red forced both Onyekwe and Archibong into foul trouble, and with just 11 seconds left were within a point of the Quakers. Though the Big Red fell to the league’s best, the youthful Big Red should go into this Saturday’s game knowing that they can stay with the Quakers, and it’s just a matter of them knowing how to win games together.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Jason Haslam

The Penn-Brown Rematch: Win and In?

The Quakers (17-5, 9-0) have hit full stride at just the right time. The Quakers followed up their win over Princeton by dispatching Yale and Brown at the Palestra last weekend. Going into the Brown contest, both squads were undefeated with the winner usurping sole possession of first place. The Bears played solid throughout, but went scoreless the final 4:56 of the game to lose their first conference game of the season, 73-66.

Once again, Ugonna Onyekwe put together a dominating performance to as he netted 21 points along with 13 rebounds and four blocks, for his third consecutive double-double. The game opened with the Bears looking confident and hardly intimidated by the frenzied crowd. Bear senior center Alai Nuualiitia looked brilliant, however, was limited to just eight minutes because of three first-half fouls. In addition, the Quakers took advantage of the Bears 11 turnovers for a 40-34 halftime lead.

The second half saw nine lead changes and three ties as the Bears clawed back to take their largest lead of the game 66-61 with 4:56 left.

Quaker guards Dan Klatsky and Jeff Schiffner nailed back-to-back threes giving them the lead. With under a minute left and up two Klatsky finished off the Bears with another three pointer as the shot clock expired causing pandemonium throughout the Palestra.

“At the start of the second half we were not very good,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “Ugonna had a couple of turnovers, we just didn’t come out with any kind of intensity and fire, and I don’t know whether or not you can look to the fact that we had three difficult games this week.”

“It’s a position you always want to be in to hit that shot and I liked it a lot, so if you get the chance to knock it down it felt good.”

“Not a lot of coaching goes on during those last couple minutes I can guarantee you that. You just hope that someone like David can make a shot or Ugonna can grab a rebound.”

For the first time in 10 games the Bears were outshot from the free throw line and coach Glen Miller was seething after the game and allude to the press that
Penn and Princeton are treated favorably by the referees.

“You can’t go to Penn or Princeton and get a fair shake. Our guys outplayed them the entire game, we got jammed up our asses by three officials,” Miller
said.

“No response, no response. Coach Dunphy can hold a press conference down here. Coach Thompson III can hold a conference down here. Coach Miller from Brown: no respect. Brown University: no respect,” Miller added.

Miller’s claims were a little presumptuous considering that the night before his Bears shot 18 more free throws in their historic win, that ended a 52-game skid at Jadwin Gym. Against the Quakers the Bears were outshot from the line 21-7.

Since the loss the Bears have put together two straight wins and a rematch with the Quakers looms this Friday at Brown. With Princeton literally out of the picture due to the abrupt exit of star forward Spencer Gloger, this game will essentially decide whether the Quakers are NCAA-bound or if an Ivy title will be decided by another one-game playoff.

Another Ivy Star Declared Ineligible

Princeton’s Spencer Gloger, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding was dismissed from both the basketball team and university after being declared academically ineligible. The decision was effective immediately February 20. He will be eligible again in the spring semester of 2004.

Gloger is the second high profile Ivy League player to be ruled ineligible this month. Earlier this February Harvard guard Patrick Harvey, who was second in the conference in scoring, was dismissed from his school for inadequate performance in the classroom. The enigmatic career of Gloger ends prematurely. He arrived to Princeton in 1998 and as a freshman averaged 12 points a game, but after then-coach Bill Carmody’s decision to coach at Northwestern, Gloger decided to jettison the Tigers as well and move back home so he could attend UCLA. After more indecision Gloger opted to return back to Princeton and sat out yet another year due to NCAA regulations.

With the loss of Gloger the Tigers have managed to pull out two straight wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, but their chances of contending for the conference title are all but diminished now.

Columbia: Chasing Futility

The Lions are on the verge of losing all 14 league games, a feat that hasn’t happened since Dartmouth did it in the 1965-66 season. To say it’s been a tough season for the Lions would be an understatement. They have no player on their roster that averages double-digits in points and as we enter March they are still searching for their first win of the New Year.

Out of the 327 Division I-A basketball programs, the Lions are ranked last in scoring averaging only 50.5 points a contest and 324th in team field goal percentage. Ostensibly, offense is not this team’s strong suit. The most telling statistic about these Lions are the combined 13 freshman and sophomores on the team. The team is just not talented enough to win yet. Nevertheless seniors Marco McCottery and Chris Weidemann will do anything possible to keep the Lions from making history through futility.

McCottery leads the team with 8.8 points and 7.4 rebounds a game as the team’s lone bright spot.

Ivy League Notebook

Ivy League Notebook

by Jason Haslam

Brown’s In the “Hunt” For First Place

Brown owns an eight game-winning streak, including six league victories, and are off to their best start in league play since 1981. Senior guard Earl Hunt scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half as the Bears gutted out a 91-86 win over Harvard 91-86. The Bears (11-9, 6-0) are on the cusp of being considered league contenders, supplanting both Harvard and Yale who have dropped out of the picture. That status will be tested this weekend when the Bears will travel to both Penn and Princeton.

Led by the scoring machine Hunt and the brute play of Alaivaa Nuualiitia, the Bears are turning into the surprise story of the league. Hunt was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the third time this season as the Bears margin of victory during this streak is nearly 12 points a game. The inside-outside attack of Hunt and Nuualiitia are giving opposing defenses fits, and the stability by Jason Forte at point guard has been instrumental. Forte is averaging 11.4 points a game, a team-leading five assists and almost two steals a game. Moreover, the diminutive sophomore, Forte, (6-feet 160 pounds) also leads the team in free throw attempts. Coincidentally the Bears top the league in free throw shooting as a team at 74 percent.

During their eight-game tear, the Bears have vastly out-shot opponents from the charity stripe 175-for-232 (77 percent) to 88-for-132 (67 percent). Such disparities have been paramount to the Bears success. For example, on February 1 at Columbia, Bears were out-rebounded by a 41-25 margin, but connected on 31 free throws as the Lions only attempted 14.

Such differences have played a huge part for the Bears, but with an RPI ranking of 196, they need to hope some things fall their way in league play, and if they can manage a split this weekend, they would be putting themselves in great shape for a chance at the title.

The Crimson Are Left With Little

As the college basketball season has moved forward, the Crimson have not. Despite a solid jump out the gate at 7-2, the Crimson (10-9, 2-4) have lost seven of their last 10, and that’s not even the bad news. Senior shooting guard and leading scorer Patrick Harvey has been ruled academically ineligible for the rest of the season, crushing any hopes of salvation for a team that some observers thought could overcome the league dominance of both Penn and Princeton.

According to reports in The Harvard Crimson, coach Frank Sullivan notified Harvey as well as the rest of the team that their star player had just played in his last game of his collegiate career, a 73-68 loss to Yale. Unfortunately, a lackluster effort in the classroom is nothing new to Harvey. He missed the entire 1999-2000 season due to academics and upon completing last year’s spring semester, he was put back on probation. Not only does Harvey lose his place on the basketball squad, it has also been indicated that he will be forced to withdraw from the university too.

Harvey leads the team in scoring, minutes per game, three-pointers, free throw shooting, and steals. It should be interesting how coach Sullivan leads his team through this. Seniors Elliot Prasse-Freeman, Sam Winter, and Brady Merchant will continue to carry this youthful squad on its backs, as the post-Harvey era begins this Friday against Columbia. Guard Jason Norman, who is averaging 11.3 minutes and 3.4 points a game is a likely replacement for the now departed Harvey. And finally some good news for the team. Center Brian Cusworth had a big day in the loss to Brown, collecting his first double-double of his young career 14 points and 12 rebounds. The league recognized his efforts by naming him Freshman of the Week.

Onyekwe and Quakers Outmuscle Tigers for 65-55 Win

Ugonna Onyekwe did what a senior is supposed to do. He took care of business and was willing to do it at any cost.

“I just wanted it real badly today,” said Onyekwe after a dominating 22 point and 12 rebound performance to beat arch-rival Princeton 65-55, as the Quakers moved up to 13-5 and 5-0 in league play. Last season the Quakers were an uncharacteristic 2-3 after five games, but managed to win nine straight and clinch the league crown. The Quakers have now won 14 straight league games, and finally look to be getting that Ivy swagger back.

“We still have to beat Brown,” Onyekwe said. “We’re not taking anyone for granted.”

The Quakers were in firm control throughout the first half, as Onyekwe set the tone by dashing across the lane with an acrobatic block that left Tiger guard Will Venable on his backside. The Tigers (10-8, 4-1) scored just two points in the final 10 minutes of the first half trailing 27-19. However, the Tigers would make things interesting as star forward Spencer Gloger, who was held scoreless in the first half, started to catch fire, as the Tigers put together a 14-2 run with just over 11 minutes left to play.

Onyekwe played like a swashbuckler, constantly demanding the ball down low. He put the Quakers up 38-37, which guard Andrew Toole followed with a short bank shot that gave them the lead for good. Onyekwe’s timely performance made up for teammate Koko Archibong’s five fouls in 17 minutes. One Tiger defender after another tried to contain Onyekwe, but to no avail. He unleashed an arsenal of dunks and alley-oops.