And then there were two. Penn and Princeton.
With home-court sweeps of both Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, these two schools are now the only teams still alive for the '95-'96 championship. These perennial basketball powerhouses--who have accounted for the Ivy League's last eight titles--are on a collision course to meet on ESPN2 with an NCAA tournament bid on the line next Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Penn (14-9, 9-2 Ivy) and Princeton (18-5, 10-1) must, however, not overlook this weekend's contests at Cornell and Columbia, two teams that should not give them much trouble.
Should the two squads split their season series and end up deadlocked at the top, they will battle in a one game playoff at a yet-to-be-determined neutral site.
The Crimson (14-10, 6-6) had its dreams of bringing the first ever men's basketball championship to Harvard ended on the road last Friday. The Crimson came up just two points short (66-64) of their first victory at Penn since 1990. On Saturday, Princeton took advantage of a sluggish start by Harvard in a 65-58 win. However, the season still holds much promise for the Crimson. With a sweep of Brown and Yale this upcoming weekend, Harvard could finish the season with its first winning record in the Ivies since the '83-'84 campaign. More importantly, this year's squad could possibly tie the school record for most Division-I victories at 15. As for personal accomplishments, Harvard has already seen senior swingman Mike Gilmore break the 1,000 point plateau and shatter the school's three-point record. Junior big man Kyle Snowden could join Gilmore in at the 1,000 point mark if he tallies just 18 this weekend. Finally, freshman point guard Tim Hill, with a strong showing in these last two games, will solidify his claim to the League's coveted Rookie of the Year prize. The Dartmouth Big Green (14-10, 7-5) also had their title hopes crushed at Penn in a humiliating 80-51 loss last Saturday. The Big Green had no answer for a nearly flawless Quaker offense that committed an astoundingly low four turnovers. On the other end of the court, senior center Brian Gilpin was no match for the Penn defense which, spearheaded by senior Tim Krug, did not allow him to convert on nine field goal attempts. Dartmouth had similar luck the night before when they were thrashed 65-39 by Princeton. In that contest, the Big Green simply had no answer for the Tigers' deliberate offensive style and it could not solve Princeton's smothering defense. The Columbia Lions (7-17, 3-9) had clearly their best weekend of the season. Recording a road sweep for the first time in four seasons, Columbia beat Brown and Yale. The Lions were led by the remarkable shooting and equally outstanding defense of Ivy League Co-Player of the Week C.J. Thompkins. Thompkins was en fuego from behind the arc, hitting seven of 11 three-pointers in back-to-back games. Rookie of the Week Gary Raimondo, Hill's major competitor for the Rookie of the Year crown, also put in solid performances in both contests. While Thompkins was hitting from long range in Providence, Cornell marksman Alex Compton was equally unconscious at Yale. After an off-night last Friday in Cornell's 79-75 loss at Brown, Compton came back on Saturday and tied the Ivy League record for treys in a game with nine. The Co-Player of the Week scored a career-high 38 points and led the Big Red (9-14, 5-7) to 71-65 victory over the struggling squad from New Haven. Yale, after shocking Penn just two weeks ago, is now falling rapidly to the bottom of the league standings. The Bulldogs (8-16, 3-9), who were embarrassed by both Cornell and Columbia last weekend, must win at least one of their final two to get out of the Ivy cellar.
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ALL-IVY SQUASH
