Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Week 15

Yale's Javier Durien and Cornell's Nolan Cressler

Complete Men's Basketball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy of Cornell Athletic Communications and Yale Sports Publicity

PRINCETON, N.J. -- A wild weather weekend turned into a wild one for Ivy League men's basketball on the hardwoods, setting up another exciting two-night episode in the drama that is "The 14-Game Tournament."

Just like a suspenseful box office smash, this season's plot took some interesting twists and turns as both Harvard (13-7, 5-1 Ivy League) and Princeton (11-8, 4-1 Ivy) suffered their first conference losses. The two teams now set their sights on the next act in this year's story, a Saturday night meeting in Cambridge, Mass., in front of the lights and cameras on the NBC Sports Network. Each face stiff challenges on Friday night with Princeton looking to rebound against an improved Dartmouth (6-14, 2-4 Ivy) squad and Harvard hosting Penn (5-17, 2-4 Ivy), which comes into the game sitting just two games in the loss column behind the League leaders.

Cornell (11-12, 3-3 Ivy) and Yale (9-14, 3-3 Ivy) come into the weekend poised to create a storyline of their own as both teams enter their Friday night contest with identical 3-3 Ivy records. A weekend sweep by either team would surely add some intrigue to the drama set to unfold over the remaining four weeks of the season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Yale sophomore guard Javier Duren (St. Louis, Mo.) played a key role as the Bulldogs swept the Penn-Princeton road trip for the first since 1986-87. With back-up point guard Michael Grace out with an injury, Duren led the team with 13 points in the victory over Princeton. After the Tigers had rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to tie the score, he scored six of his points over a four-minute stretch. Duren also had a solid all-around game in the win at Penn, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes.

Durien's Statistics for the Week

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Cornell freshman guard Nolan Cressler (Pittsburgh) averaged 11.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in helping the Big Red to a weekend split. In the Big Red’s two-point loss to Harvard, Cressler hit 3-of-4 shots from the floor for eight points. He chipped in four rebounds and a steal. Cressler was even better in the 23-point win over Dartmouth, collecting 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals while making 5-of-6 shots from the floor. In just 45 total minutes on the weekend, he scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished two assists and had three steals.

Cressler's Statistics for the Week

HONOR ROLL
Miles Cartwright, Penn (Jr., G - Van Nuys, Calif.)    
6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists vs. Yale
Career-high 28 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals vs. Brown

Siyani Chambers, Harvard (Fr., G - Golden Valley, Minn.)    
18 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists at Cornell
12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists at Columbia

Steve Frankoski, Columbia (So., G - Florham Park, N.J.)    
6 points vs. Dartmouth
Career-high 27 points, 3 steals vs. Harvard

Denton Koon, Princeton (So., F - Liberty, Mo.)    
17 points, 2 rebounds vs. Brown
16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals vs. Yale

Rafael Maia, Brown (So., C - Sao Paulo, Brazil)    
19 points, 9 rebounds at Princeton
10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists at Penn

Tyler Melville, Dartmouth (Jr., G - Plano, Texas)    
15 points, 2 rebounds at Columbia
12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists at Penn

Errick Peck, Cornell (Sr., F - Indianapolis)    
17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Harvard
11 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists vs. Dartmouth

Wesley Saunders, Harvard (So., G/F - Los Angeles)    
14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists at Cornell
Career-high 27 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals at Columbia

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 15
*Columbia at Brown, 7 pm [myRITV]
*Cornell at Yale, 7 pm
*Princeton at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Penn at Harvard, 7 pm

Saturday, February 16
*Cornell at Brown, 6 pm
*Columbia at Yale, 7 pm
*Penn at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Princeton at Harvard, 7 pm [NBCSN]

*Ivy League Contests