Brown Blows Chance for Ivy League Playoffs and Potential NCAA Bid with Loss at Penn

Brown Blows Chance for Ivy League Playoffs and Potential NCAA Bid with Loss at Penn

It all caught up with the Brown Bears on Saturday night in Philadelphia. In one of the most important games in Brown basketball history.

Brown had its Ivy League playoff hopes crushed by Penn Saturday evening, falling to the Quakers by a 58-51 at the Palestra. Brown and Penn tied for fourth place in the Ivy standings with 7-7 league marks, but Penn gains the final Ivy Tournament berth with a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over the Bears. Brown turned the ball over 22 times.

For Brown, it marks the end to a season for a team with so much potential and so inconsistent.

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Brown falls to 19-11 overall, matching the school record for wins in a season with the Bears' 2008 squad, while Penn, who captured the Big Five Championship, improves to 19-11.

"Tonight wasn't our night," said Brown head coach Mike Martin. "But I don't think it takes away from all the positive things our young men did this year. I am proud of how they have carried themselves all year and excited about the future of this program."

But, in Brown basketball history — that team has won only one Ivy League title in 1986. These chances don’t come around too often.

A win and Brown would have played in the Ivy’s four-team playoff for the NCAA bid.  Lose and another offseason of “what ifs.”

With the score tied, 27-27, at halftime, Penn came out of the locker room to score the half's first eight points and grab a 35-27 lead after a steal and a layup by Devon Goodman.

The Bears quickly recovered with a 13-4 run to take a 40-39 lead after consecutive treys by sophomore Desmond Cambridge and senior Obi Okolie at the 14:30 mark.

The Quakers countered with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to pull ahead by a 54-44 margin following a Goodman layup.  Five straight points by Zach Hunsaker (North Salt Lake City, UT) on a trey and a free throw, plus two free throws by junior Josh Howard (Charlotte, NC), brought the Bears back to within four points, 54-50, with 6:01 left.

But Penn's defense stepped up and limited the Bears to a single free throw by freshman David Mitchell(Burke, VA) in the final six minutes to hold on for the win.

Cambridge paced three double-figure scorers for the Bears with 13 points. Howard and sophomore Tamenang Choh each scored 10 points, with Choh adding nine rebounds.

Okolie tossed in nine points and his 1,027 career points are now 28thin Brown basketball history. Mitchell scored just one point, but matched his career high with eight rebounds.

When the Bears look back on this one they'll see turnovers as the deciding factor with Brown committing 22 turnovers to 12 turnovers for the Quakers.

Brown's defense held the Quakers to just 22-percent shooting from beyond the three-point line, but a strong inside presence enabled Penn to shoot 40-percent overall.

Goodman led all scorers with 20 points, including 12 in the second half, while AJ Brodeur (18 points) and Jake Slipe (13 points) also scored in double figures for the Quakers.

An evenly played opening 20 minutes had the game tied, 27-27, after six lead changes. Neither team led by more than six points, Penn at the 16:19 mark.  Cambridge and Choh each scored eight points to pace the Bears, while Silpe led the Quakers with 13 points in the opening half.