Harvard suffers first Ivy loss as Yale closes in on top spot

As the Ivy League season reached its halfway point last weekend, the league’s pecking order remained in a state of flux. Harvard shockingly lost its first conference game to Princeton, leaving the door open for Yale, Penn, and possibly even Princeton to make a late-season run. Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and Columbia may not be title contenders, but each continued to prove that it can compete with the best teams in the conference.

Yale
The Bulldogs (16-6, 6-2 Ivy) maintained their status as the second-ranked team in the Ivy League, winning one of their two close games on the road. Yale lost the first of its back-to-back matchups, 85-84 in overtime against Cornell, after squandering a 14-point first-half lead. Junior Austin Morgan led the Bulldogs with 22 points while senior guard Reggie Willhite added eight assists. Yale then rebounded and overcame a 21-point second-half deficit to defeat Columbia 59-58. The Bulldogs’ feisty press managed to force several Lion turnovers, and three key three-pointers helped them get back in the game. Willhite led Yale with 24 points and scored the winning basket on a layup with less than a minute left.

Cornell
Although Cornell (10-12, 5-3 Ivy) has had an up-and-down Ivy League season thus far, it managed to win both of its home games last weekend. The Big Red first beat Yale 85-84 in overtime on Friday, as junior guard Jonathan Gray had a career high of 29 points. Cornell was down 14 points after the first half and still managed to edge the Bulldogs in overtime, in part due to two three-pointers from Gray. In its second game of the weekend, the Big Red dominated Brown in the second half en route to a 72-63 win. Gray had another outstanding performance with 16 points and nine rebounds, helping Cornell shoot 47 percent from the field and sink 12 three-pointers.

Brown
The Bears’ (7-18, 1-7 Ivy) woes continued this weekend as they lost on the road to Columbia 86-60 and Cornell 72-63. The Bears were without star sophomore guard Sean McGonagill, and struggled to defend Columbia’s streaky three-point shooters. The Bears allowed the Lions to make 11 first-half threes, and never recovered from a 23-point halftime deficit. In the Bears’ Saturday game against Cornell, junior guard Matt Sullivan scored 17 first-half points to keep Brown in contention at halftime. Brown was not able to contain the Big Red after the break, though, as Cornell went on a 15-1 run with five three-pointers. Though Brown shrunk the lead to six with under three minutes to play, the Cornell pulled away once more for the win.

Dartmouth
Dartmouth (8-20, 0-8 Ivy) will continue to look for its first Ivy League win, after losing road games at Princeton and Penn. The Big Green fell to Princeton 59-47 on Friday, competing well in the first half before faltering in the second. Dartmouth led by two points at halftime before Princeton went on a 14-2 run at the start of the second half, and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. Freshman Jvonte Brooks led the Big Green with 11 points and 13 rebounds. In Saturday’s loss at Penn, Dartmouth lost a heartbreaker to the Quakers 58-55. The Big Green came back after trailing by 15 points in the second half, only to lose on a three-pointer with 3.4 seconds left. It outrebounded Penn 34 to 20, but committed 19 turnovers which severely hurt its chance for a victory. Although Brooks led the Big Green with 18 points, he turned the ball over eight times himself.

Princeton
The Tigers (13-10, 4-3 Ivy) had two excellent performances at home, beating hapless Dartmouth 59-47 and shocking Harvard 70-62. Despite missing their first 12 shots against the Big Green, the Tigers pulled within two by halftime. In the second half, Princeton outscored Dartmouth 36-22 en route to an easy win. Senior guard Douglas Davis led the Tigers with 20 points while the leading scorer this season, junior forward Ian Hummer, was held to a four-point performance. Hummer recovered nicely from his low output on Friday to lead the Tigers with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists in their major upset against Harvard. The game was evenly matched until the last six minutes when Princeton went on a 6-1 run to take a five-point lead. Harvard was then forced to foul the Tigers, and Princeton clinched the game by making 12 of 15 foul shots.

Harvard
Harvard (21-3, 7-1 Ivy) won at Penn 56-50 this weekend before suffering its first Ivy loss this season at the hands of Princeton, 70-62. After a tightly contested 30 minutes, the Crimson went on a 7-0 run to take a 41-32 lead against Penn. The Quakers cut the lead to three with 17.4 seconds left before freshman guard Corbin Miller made one of two foul shots to clinch the game for Harvard. Miller led the team with 17 points while senior forward Keith Wright had 13 rebounds. The Crimson started off well at Princeton on Saturday, leading 27-22 at halftime, but couldn’t stop the Tigers from tying the game at 44 midway through the second half. Princeton shot 50 percent from the field and its offensive supremacy showed in the last four minutes when its pulled away, winning by eight points.

Penn
The Quakers (14-11, 5-2 Ivy) split their back-to-back home games this weekend, losing to Harvard 56-50 before beating Dartmouth 58-55. The Quakers struggled offensively against the Crimson as senior guard Zack Rosen shot 6-for-21 and senior guard Tyler Bernardini was held to two points. Nevertheless, the Quakers managed to stick with Harvard until the last seven minutes, before their opponent pulled away for good. Penn managed to cut the Crimson’s lead to three in the last minute of the game, but came no closer. The Quakers recovered against Dartmouth as Rosen made a deep three with 3.4 seconds left to give his team the win. While Rosen struggled in the game and made just 5 of 13 shots, he saved Penn from giving up what initially seemed to be a comfortable win for Dartmouth. Up by six points with less than four minutes left, the Quakers turned the ball over and received a technical foul that let the Big Green back into the game before Rosen shut the door.