Harvard and Penn still top Ancient Eight standings

The two other Ivy games this weekend were much less exciting than Columbia’s 61-56 victory over Cornell on Saturday night. Harvard and Yale both triumphed, as expected, defeating cellar-dwellers Dartmouth and Brown, respectively.

In the one non-conference game of the weekend, Penn pulled out a four-point win over Big 5 opponent St. Joseph’s after leading by more than 20 for most of the second half.

Yale 73, Brown 60

The Bulldogs (12-4, 2-0 Ivy) swept their home-and-away series against the Bears (5-13, 0-2 Ivy) with their second conference victory this weekend, defeating Brown 73-60.
After losing by just four points on Jan. 14, it was not surprising that the Bears kept it close for most of the game.

Led by junior guard Stephen Albrecht, who had a game-high 23 points in the contest, the Bears trailed by just one with 16 minutes to play in the second half. Yale, however, then went on an 8-0 run to extend its lead to nine and put Brown in a defecit it would never recover from.

Senior center Greg Mangano led the Bulldogs to their 73-60 victory with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Reggie Willhite and junior guard Austin Morgan also recorded double digit points for Yale, while sophomore guard Sean McGonagill was the only other Brown player to score more than 10 points.

While the Bulldogs outshot the Bears by nearly eight percent, their real advantage was on the boards. Yale had a gaudy 49 rebounds to Brown’s 31.

The Bulldogs will face a much tougher test this Friday when they host the Crimson. Dartmouth, on the other hand, should find its next game a little easier when it will travel to Brown.

Harvard 54, Dartmouth 38

Behind a 13-point performance from Ivy League Rookie of the Week Corbin Miller, the Crimson (16-2, 2-0 Ivy) completed the sweep of its travel partner, defeating the Big Green 54-38.

Harvard held Dartmouth (4-14, 0-2 Ivy) to just 16 points in the first half while scoring 23 itself, proving that the Big Green’s first-half scare during its first matchup of the season was just a fluke.

While Dartmouth was able to cut the lead to five early in the second stanza, that was the closest it would get. Harvard led by as much as 21 points in the second half.

In the low scoring game, Corbin was the only Crimson player to score in double figures, but seven other players contributed points to the winning effort. Freshman forward Jvonte Brooks and sophomore guard Tyler Melville led the Big Green with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Harvard benefited from strong shooting from behind the arc, knocking down eight of its 17 shots from downtown.

Saint Joseph’s 80, Penn 84

In the only non-conference game of the weekend, the Quakers put on an impressive performance against their Big 5 foe. Though Penn ended up winning by only four, it led the Hawks by as much as 23 points in the second half.

With 12 minutes remaining in the game, St. Joe’s went on a 25-6 run to cut the deficit to just four points with over four minutes left to play. Thanks in large part to senior guard Tyler Bernardini’s 24-point performance, though, the home team was able to hold on to its lead.

Led by Bernardini and fellow senior guard Zack Rosen, the Quakers notched their third straight victory. Rosen played nearly the entire game, sitting out just one minute, scoring 16 points and dishing out eight assists.

Penn will take over a week off before it returns to conference play on Jan. 30 when it will host Princeton at the Palestra.