Quakers stunned on homecourt

(Penn - 53, Columbia - 54) (Penn - 75, Cornell - 63)

The Penn men's basketball team's quest for the Ivy League title hit another speedbump Saturday night.

With two free throws with 3.2 seconds left, Columbia forward Joe Case gave the Lions the win as they stunned the Quakers, 54-53.

"This is the biggest win since I've been at Columbia ... I've been crying in the locker room," Lions coach Armond Hill said.

The Quakers (15-5, 2-2 Ivy League) led, 28-25, at the break and looked as if they would pull away early in the second half, taking a 36-28 lead at the 16:39 mark.

But Columbia (10-10, 3-3), sparked by its defense, went on a 15-2 run as the Quakers did not score from the field for over seven minutes, hitting only two free throws. In that span, Penn turned it over three times and committed six fouls, putting the Lions in the bonus only nine minutes into the second half.

The Lions made 11 of 12 free throws in the second half after not going to the line in the first.

The Quakers' bench was also a non-factor, as Penn's five subs scored only four points in 43 minutes combined on the court.

"There just weren't that many shots in the game," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "It's hard for a bench guy to get in there and light it up."

But the score was still tied at 50 with 1:30 left in the contest, when Derrick Mayo stole the ball from Penn's Jeff Schiffner and cruised for a layup.

But the Quakers' Koko Archibong -- who finished with 12 points -- answered, nailing a three from the top of the key with just over a minute left to give Penn a one-point lead.

Then the Lions drove one last time, and after two misses, Tim Begley fouled Case, who provided the winning margin.

After the second free throw, Schiffner sent a pass to Ugonna Onyekwe, who had a good look at a 19-footer at the buzzer, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim.

On Friday, against Cornell, the game was a bit easier for the Red and Blue, as they downed the Big Red, 75-63.

The Quakers jumped out to a 20-8 lead on the strength of Onyekwe and Andrew Toole, who led Penn with 25 and 22 points, respectively.

After Cornell closed to within five, Toole scored six straight points in the final 26 seconds of the first half to give the Quakers a 32-21 halftime edge.

The Big Red went on a 13-0 run early in the second half to even the score at 36 after a Wallace Prather three-pointer. Prather led all scorers with 26 points, and he also grabbed five steals.

"Our offense wasn't very good in that stretch," Dunphy said. "They stepped it up and made some nice three-point shots."

But Onyekwe scored eight straight points for Penn, bringing the Red and Blue on a 15-5 run, and the Big Red never really threatened again.

"All season, we usually play best when our backs are to the wall," Toole said. "We had to wake up and turn it up a notch, and we did what we had to do to win the game."

At the end of the press conference following the Cornell game, Dunphy had a bit of prophecy for the following night's debacle against Columbia.

"We've got a lot of the toughest games that we could possibly play left," Dunphy said. "I think [the league] is wide open like crazy."

Cornell is now 3-16 and 0-6 in the Ivy League following Saturday night's 60-38 loss at Princeton.

For the Quakers, this the first time they have opened at 2-2, their worst record in the Ivy League since the 1991-92 season when they opened 1-3 and finished 9-5.

Penn now faces a very tough stretch -- three road games against some of the top teams in the league. The Quakers travel to Yale and Brown next weekend before heading to Princeton, N.J. to face the Tigers on Tuesday, Feb. 12.

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