Halfway to Ivy glory

Following the most important weekend of the season thus far, the Penn men's basketball team is, at last, right where everybody thought they would be at the start: alone atop the Ivy League standings. Penn knocked off the upstart Brown Bears at the Palestra Saturday, 73-66, in a battle of Ancient Eight unbeatens. Friday, they ultimately bested a stubborn Yale team, 68-57. "As I've said many times in our situation, these are all playoff games," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "If you stumble along the way, we have no chance to make that up. Each game is a season in and of itself, and we have to be ready to go." Against the Bears (12-10, 7-1), the Quakers (15-5, 7-0 Ivy) needed some late heroics to secure the victory. After Brown guard Jason Forte split a one-and-one to give the Bears their biggest lead of the night at 66-61, the Quakers scored the game's final 12 points. "It was just a bunch of guys who decided they weren't going to lose," Dunphy said. After a David Klatsky three-pointer cut the margin to two, the Quakers took the lead for good with 2:42 remaining in regulation. When two Brown defenders collapsed on forward Ugonna Onyekwe in the post, he calmly found a wide-open Jeff Schiffner on the perimeter, who promptly drained a three-pointer, setting off pandemonium in the student section. Klatsky sealed the win with a straightaway three as the shot clock expired with only 38 seconds remaining. "It's the position you always want to be in, to hit that shot," Klatsky said. "It felt good to get that chance." Onyekwe was the difference for the Quakers throughout the game. He scored 21 points and pleased the crowd with a series of fantastic plays above the rim. He added 13 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in 32 minutes. "He took it to people and he did a great job" Dunphy said. "He gets 19 points in the first half. I think it's a tribute to our guys that he didn't score very much in the second half, and we still found a way to win the game." Brown co-captain Earl Hunt, the explosive guard who earlier this season passed Arnie Berman as Brown's all-time leading scorer, was held to a quiet 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

Forte, the speedy point guard, was harassed into a woeful 1-for-12 shooting night, though he did contribute a game-high 13 assists. Penn helped itself from the charity stripe, sinking 21-of-29 attempts while the Bears shot 7-for-14. On Friday, the Quakers faced Yale (10-11, 4-4 Ivy League) for the first time since their March 9 playoff game at Lafayette College. Onyekwe and forward Koko Archibong each recorded double-doubles as the Quakers overpowered the Elis. The Quakers neutralized Yale sophomore Edwin Draughan, the team's scoring leader, holding him to 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Despite fighting their way to a one-point halftime lead, the Elis faltered after the break. Yale repeatedly hurt themselves, misfiring numerous times from close range. "I thought missing those lay-ups in the early parts of the second half hurt us," Yale coach James Jones said. "And now we get to the point where Ugonna scored the basket and Koko knocked down a three, and now you're on the outside looking in. I thought we were climbing uphill ever since that point." In the second half, Penn increased the pressure in its half-court defense, and the Elis failed to find the open looks that had allowed them to shoot a blistering 51.9 percent from the field in the first half. Dunphy denied making any specific changes at halftime to jumpstart the Quakers. "I don't think it was anything other than just saying let's do a better job of communicating on the defensive end," Dunphy said. "But I think our intensity picked up, and there were a couple loose balls that we got which were critical to our success." Draughan and senior guard Chris Leanza kept the Elis within striking distance with some timely scores throughout the second half, but the Quakers athleticism up front ultimately doomed the visitors. Penn controls its own fate as it eyes a 22nd Ivy League championship. Their next test is a four game road trip, opening Friday in Cambridge, Mass. "It's going to be a couple of long trips. Harvard and Dartmouth will be tough for us," Dunphy said. "And then going to Brown and Yale will be no box of chocolates."

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