Penn Snaps Yale’s Six Game Winning Streak

By: Ethan Hennessy

Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Yale came to Philadelphia on Friday night looking to remain first in the Ivy League standings, but a formidable Penn Quakers team stood in their way. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. Jordan Dingle who is the nation’s second leading scorer was held to only two points through the first ten plus minutes. The junior guard picked up a second foul early and sat on the bench for a considerable portion of the first half.

Penn went on a 7-0 run leading into the under eight media timeout. This forced Yale coach James Jones to call a timeout and the Friday night crowd at the Palestra roared to life. By the time halftime rolled around the Quakers held a slim two point advantage 31-29.

In the second half after trading buckets early. Yale pulled out to a slim lead a little over halfway through the second half. Penn had the ability to tie it up many time, but failed to convert on the offensive end. Out of the under eight timeout the Quakers finally got hot and went on a 9-0 run over the next 1:46 forcing Yale to call a timeout. That run gave Penn a ton of momentum in the closing minutes of the game. The Palestra crowd which had been a relatively minimal factor in the back and forth game up until that point started to get loud.

In crunch time Bez Mbeng Yale’s starting point guard fouled out of the game with 1:28 left after drawing an offensive foul on a drive to the basket. Quakers coach Steve Donahue spoke highly of his guard Jordan Dingle despite Dingle averaging less than his season scoring average saying “The numbers aren’t his normal crazy ones. I thought this was one of his best games in here. The kid Mbeng is a great defender, and he fouled him out… he kept fighting and getting to the foul line. Losing Mbeng down the stretch for them is a big piece of their game.” With the game at 63-61 and eight second separating the shot clock and game clock Penn’s Jordan Dingle hit a top of the key runner to give the Quakers a four point lead with 12.1 seconds left. Yale’s John Poulakidas answered with a three on the other end but it was not enough for the Bulldogs as Penn won 66-64.