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Penn guard Jeff Schiffner hit arguably the biggest three-point shot of the Quakers' season against Yale. [Lauren Karp/The Daily Pennsylvanian]

(Penn - 82, Brown - 63) (Penn - 72, Yale - 63)

The Penn men's basketball team has rallied to set up an historic Ivy League finish after nearly being dead in the water just two weeks ago.

With two wins this weekend, the Quakers assured themselves of at least a share of the Ivy League title if they can win their final three contests. Penn could also share the league title with Yale or Princeton, or the three teams could finish in a three-way tie -- the first in the history of the Ivy League.

"It's very exciting," Penn guard Jeff Schiffner said. "It's a great race, we just have to take it a game at a time."

With Friday's 82-63 rout of Brown and Saturday's 72-63 win over Yale -- in addition to Princeton's 59-46 thrashing of the Elis on Friday night -- the Quakers have set in motion an incredible set of events.

If Penn wins its final three games, Princeton wins at Cornell and Columbia and Yale beats Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend, the Tigers and Elis would play at a neutral court for the right to face Penn in a contest to determine who receives the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Quakers have turned it around since they were 2-3 in the league after an 83-78 loss to Yale in New Haven on Feb. 8, rattling off six consecutive victories, to improve to 21-6 overall and 8-3 in the Ancient Eight.

But this finish would have been possible without Saturday's victory over Yale.

The Elis (17-9, 9-3) jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first half, as the Quakers were ice cold, hitting only one jump shot and missing all nine of their three-point attempts.

And although the Quakers rallied in the second half, the Elis seemed to put down every Penn attempt to come back in the game.

"Every time we tried to cut into the lead, they seemed to push it back out," Penn guard Andrew Toole said. "It was kind of frustrating... but we just kept our confidence, and we were able to overcome it."

It was a night of redemption for Toole, who missed all eight of his attempts from the floor in the first game against Yale. The junior had 20 points, and he sealed Penn's victory by hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 40 seconds.

The Quakers finally took a one-point lead, 59-58, when Koko Archibong hit two free throws with 3:09 left in the contest.

But with Penn up just two with less than a minute to play, Jeff Schiffner saved the ball after an errant Archibong pass, hitting a three from the corner with only four seconds left on the shot clock to end any chances of a Yale comeback.

"We are now a mature team that can handle the adversity," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "I think maybe we are getting to be a better team in close games."

The night before, the Quakers handled that adversity early and turned the game into a rout.

After being down by seven midway through the first half, the Quakers rattled off eight points in 37 seconds to take a 22-21 advantage.

The Red and Blue used that 8-0 spurt to spark a 24-5 run and head into the locker room with a 12-point advantage. Penn never looked back in the second half, leading by as many as 27 before settling in for a 19-point win.

Penn was led on Friday by Ugonna Onyekwe, who scored 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting and also hauled in nine rebounds.

"Our guys appreciate the importance of every game," Dunphy said on Friday. "Our backs are against the wall and we've got to respond."

The Quakers look to set in motion their shot at returning to the Ivy League crown next weekend when they travel to Columbia and Cornell.

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