Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 16

Penn's Zack Rosen and Dartmouth's Gabas Maldunas

Complete Ivy League Men's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Dartmouth Varsity Athletics Communications and Penn Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The drama of the 2011-12 Ivy League men’s basketball season comes down to its final two full weekends, beginning with a matchup of the top two teams this upcoming Saturday night.

Harvard enters the final weekend of February with a chance to grab at least a share of the regular-season title with big back-to-back games against Princeton Friday night and Penn Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson is looking to re-establish another program milestone and get its 24th win its season mark of 23 just accomplished a year ago.

Harvard's Saturday night clash with Penn will be broadcasted live at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 with Dave Weekley handling the play-by-play and John Celestand providing the analysis.

Princeton comes into the weekend with its Ivy title hopes alive, just sitting two games back in the loss column to Harvard. The Tigers are riding a League-best four-game winning streak and have designs on sweeping the season series with the Crimson for the third time in four seasons.

Penn stands just one game back of Harvard, setting up a potential showdown for the top spot Saturday night. The Quakers are winners of three straight and eight of their last 10 with three games remaining.

Yale’s hopes for the League crown are very much alive as well with the Bulldogs hosting Columbia and Cornell. A weekend sweep by Yale would certainly add to the storylines of the final Friday-Saturday of Ivy play over the first weekend in March.

"Inside Ivy League Basketball" hits the airwaves again for its 10th episode on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. featuring interviews with Penn senior guard Zack Rosen, Dartmouth junior guard Faziah Steen and Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan.

"Inside Ivy League Basketball" is hosted by Dan Loney and Brian Seltzer and takes an in-depth look at all the news and notes surrounding Ivy men’s and women’s basketball on and off the courts during the 2011-12 season. The 12-episode show debuted Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com (blogtalkradio.com/insideivyleaguebasketball) and is available on-demand via BlogTalkRadio and IvyLeagueSports.com.     

Each episode is packed with highlights, statistics and expert analysis in its 'Around the League' segment. With its interview segments 'Program Profile,' 'Student-Athlete Spotlight' and 'Alumni Focus,' the show will visit with past and present players, coaches and administrators who impact Ivy League basketball.

Fans and alumni can interact with the show via its social media platforms -- Facebook (Inside Ivy League Basketball) and Twitter (@insideivyhoops) -- as well as provide ideas and content for the show’s 'Twitter Talk/Facebook Fodder' segment.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Penn senior guard Zack Rosen (Colonia, N.J.) was the catalyst in the Quakers’ wins over Cornell and Columbia to sit alone in second place in the Ivy League standings entering the final two weekends of play. Rosen figured in 26 straight points late in the win over Cornell, scoring 17 and assisting on the other nine. In the final four minutes, he scored 11 straight points to turn a 59-55 deficit into a 66-62 lead, then fed Miles Cartwright for a dagger three-pointer before hitting two more free throws to ice it. Rosen led Penn in scoring and rebounding with 14 points and six rebounds in the overtime win over Columbia. Rosen sent the game into overtime with a tying free throw with two seconds left in regulation. On the game-winning play in the extra session, he drew a double team then set a screen on Fran Dougherty's man, allowing Dougherty cut to the hoop, catch and lay up an alley-oop pass from Cartwright all in one motion for the game-winning basket with 0.5 second remaining.

Rosen's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Dartmouth freshman forward Gabas Maldunas (Panevezys, Lithuania) averaged a double-double (15.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) in the two games over the weekend, helping the Big Green end its eight-game slide with a win over Brown. But first, Maldunas put up a season-high 23 points -- just the third 20-point game of the season by a Dartmouth player -- and hauled in 11 rebounds to register his fourth double-double of the season in a nine-point loss to Yale. Against Brown, he was not far from another double-double with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and nine boards. Maldunas filled up the stat sheet in the win with two assists and personal bests in blocks (4) and steals (3).

Maldunas' Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Brian Barbour, Columbia, Junior, Guard (Alamo, Calif.)    
22 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists at Princeton
6 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists at Penn

Brandyn Curry, Harvard, Junior, Guard (Huntersville, N.C.)    
18 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists vs. Yale
0 points, 1 rebound, 9 assists, 3 blocks vs. Brown

Douglas Davis, Princeton, Senior, Guard (Philadelphia)    
20 points, 2 rebounds vs. Columbia
11 points, 2 rebounds vs. Cornell

Greg Mangano, Yale, Senior, Center (Orange, Conn.)    
22 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks at Harvard
16 points, 15 rebounds at Dartmouth

Matt Sullivan, Brown, Junior, Guard (Wilmette, Ill.)    
14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists at Dartmouth
11 points, 1 rebound at Harvard

Chris Wroblewski, Cornell, Senior, Guard (Highland Park, Ill.)    
14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists at Penn
10 points, 5 rebounds. 3 assists at Princeton

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 24
*Cornell at Brown, 7 pm
*Columbia at Yale, 7 pm [YES]
*Penn at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm

Saturday, February 25
*Columbia at Brown, 6 pm
*Cornell at Yale, 7 pm
*Princeton at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Penn at Harvard, 7 pm [ESPN3]

* Ivy League Contest

KEY:
ESPN3 – ESPN3.com; YES – YES Network (DirecTV 631)