Here is tonight's edition of Betting the Ivies.


Dartmouth at Penn -7.5
The Quakers have played much better as of late and are always tough at The Palestra. Still, I like Dartmouth to keep it close with Alex Mitola hitting a few 3-pointers.
Pick: Dartmouth

Shonn Miller

Brown at Cornell -4.5
The Bears have had another disappointing season and have not fared well on the road. Look for Shonn Miller and the Big Red to roll in the first part of important weekend in its battle for third place in the Ivy.
Pick: Cornell

Yale at Columbia -4.5
The Bulldogs rolled over Columbia earlier in the season but in that the Lions were battling the flu bug and star Brian Barbour hardly played. But Yale has owned this series and should have enough to pull off the slight upset on the road.
Pick: Yale

Harvard at Princeton -6
This is the game of the year in the league as Princeton has to protect its homecourt to gain at least a share of the league lead. If Harvard wins the Crimson can start packing for the NCAA. If the Tigers win the race will go down to the final day. I like Princeton to win a war here so I'll take the points and Harvard could win this on the court.
Pick: Harvard

Best bet: Cornell

MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAYS


QUINNIPIAC AT LONG ISLAND
Where: Wellness Center, Brooklyn
When: Today, 4:30 p.m.
Records: Quinnipiac (15-14, 11-6 Northeast); Long Island (16-13, 11-6)
Radio: WQUN-1220 AM
Internet: www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Video: NEC Front Row

What to look for
Scouting Long Island: The Blackbirds held off Sacred Heart in Thursday's crucial penultimate NEC game. The victory leaves the preseason favorites in a four-way tie for second place with Quinnipiac, Bryant and Wagner. A win today guarantees a home game in the first round of the tournament. Robert Morris has locked up the top seed. LIU is 10-4 at home and led by Jamal Olasewere averaging 18.7 points and 8.4 rebounds. Point guard Jason Brickman leads the nation in assists.
Scouting Quinnipiac: The Bobcats rebounded from a tough loss at Central Connecticut State to defeat St. Francis, N.Y., on Thursday. The victory kept Quinnipiac's chances of a No. 2 seed in the NEC tournament alive but they can finish as low as sixth in the regular-season standings with a loss. Quinnipiac beat LIU earlier in the season but the Blackbirds, who knocked Quinnipiac out of last season's NEC tournament played without its top players Olasawere and C.J. Garner. Quinnipiac has won seven of its last eight games and had four players reach double figures against SFNY led by Ike Azotam with 19.

NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
ALBERTUS MAGNUS AT ALVERNIA

Jefferson Lora

Where: Physical Education center, Reading, Pa.
When: 7 p.m.
Video: albertusfalcons.com
Records: Albertus Magnus (24-4); Alvernia (23-4)

What to look for
Scouting Albertus Magnus: The Falcons are in the tournament for the third time in the last four year. In both of their previous trips they won their tournament opener but lost in the second round. Albertus is a veteran team with six seniors. Darius Watson leads the team in scoring at 23.3 ppg. while both Arshad Jackson and James Jennings are scoring over a dozen a game.
Scouting Alvernia: The Crusaders are making their eighth appearance in the championships and hosting for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Alvernia (23-4) used a 78-68 win over Lycoming on Saturday afternoon in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game to earn an automatic berth into the tournament. Like AMC, Alvernia is receiving votes in the D3 top 25 poll. Kahlil Bennett leads four Crusaders scoring over double figures at 14.3 ppg.

(Records before Friday's games)
YALE AT CORNELL

Where: Newman Arena, Ithac, N.Y.
When: 7 p.m.
Video: cornellbigred.com
Records: Yale (11-15, 5-5 Ivy); Cornell (13-14, 5-5)

What to look for
Scouting Cornell: The Big Red won at Yale earlier in the season as Cornell raced out to an early 11-2 lead, withstood a Yale comeback and held on for a 68-61 victory on Feb. 15. The Bulldogs were hurt by poor foul shooting as they shot just 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from the line. Shonn Miller had 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to pace Cornell and Johnathan Gray also scored 18. Miller is the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Scouting Yale: Yale has placed fourth or better in league play in each of the last 12 years and is looking to finish with a winning league record for the third straight year and for the fifth time in the last seven years. The future certainly looks bright as well. There are seven freshmen or sophomores averaging at least 13.9 minutes per game, and players who return next year have scored 1,250 of Yale's 1,804 (69.3 percent) points. Yale's depth has played a big role in the success of this year's team. In the 10 league games, the Bulldogs' bench is averaging 28.3 points.

-- Bill Cloutier

Here is Saturday's installment of betting the Ivies. Last night we were 2-1-1 with the best bet winning in a blowout.

Harvard -2 at Yale
Harvard has won three straight in the series and it didn't get tested last night. Look for Harvard to win this one in a war.
Pick: Harvard

Dartmouth at Brown -7
Dartmouth was a one-man show last night as Alex Mitola scored 27 in a blowout loss. The rest
of the Big Green will show up tonight and at least keep it close and they may win it
outright.
Pick: Dartmouth

Penn at Columbia - 7
Frankly the Lions are not playing well enough to give anyone 7.5 points.
Pick: Penn

Princeton -5.5 at Cornell
Another crucial game for the Tigers but they'll run into an angry Big Red team. Cornell keeps this one tight and may pull off the upset.
Pick: Cornell

Best bet: Dartmouth

DARTMOUTH AT YALE


Where: Lee Amphitheater
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Video: yalebulldogs.com
Records: Dartmouth (6-16, 2-6 Ivy); Yale (10-15, 4-4)

What to look for
Scouting Dartmouth: The Big Green sit in a tie for last in the Ivy League but are dangerous. Dartmouth has 13 freshmen or sophomores on the roster and led Harvard in the second half in their two meetings earlier in the season but lost them both. They also beat Yale in their only meeting. Gabas Maldunas (10.7 ppg.) and Alex Mitola (10.1 ppg.) lead the team in scoring. Paul Cormier is now in the third season of his second stint as the head coach of the Big Green. He also guided Dartmouth from 1984 to 1991.

Scouting Yale: The Bulldogs have won 13 straight games against the Big Green at home but can't afford past tonight's opponent with rival Harvard on deck Saturday. Yale dropped its first meeting to Dartmouth earlier in the season 71-62. Gabas Maldunas was 8-of-10 from the field and finished with 16 points to lead Dartmouth to a victory on Feb. 2. Yale got a career-high 16 points from Matt Townsend, but shot just 35 percent from the field. Austin Morgan added 20 points for the Bulldogs. The Big Green was 19-of-20 from the foul line in the second half and shot 51.1 percent from the field for the game.

-- Bill Cloutier

YALE AT PENN, PRINCETON

Friday vs. Penn,
Where: The Palestra, Philadelphia
When: 7 p.m.
Video: pennathletics.com

Saturday at Princeton
Where: Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.
When: 6 p.m.
Video: goprincetontigers.com

Records: Yale (7-14, 1-3 Ivy), Penn (4-16, 1-2), Princeton (10-7, 3-0)

What to look for

Scouting Penn: The Quakers are coming off a split with Columbia and Cornell
last weekend. Miles Cartwright scored Penn's last eight points in a hard-fought 62-58 victory over Columbia. The next night, Cornell rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to edge the Quakers 71-69. Fran Dougherty (13.8 ppg.) and Cartwright (13.7 ppg.) lead the team in scoring. Dougherty also averages 8.1 rebounds, while Cartwright has a team-best 66 assists. Jerome Allen is in his fourth year as the head coach of the Quakers.

Scouting Princeton: The Tigers, who host Brown on Friday, have won five straight games overall and have a 20-game winning streak in Ivy League games at Jadwin Gym. Ian Hummer
is second in the league in scoring (15.9 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (6.7 rpg.). Hummer was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the fi fth time this season after averaging 19.0 points in a sweep of Cornell and Columbia last week. Princeton (10-7, 3-0 Ivy) is No. 1 in the Ivy League and No. 14 in the nation (through Feb. 3) in scoring defense, now at 57.5 ppg. allowed. Mitch Henderson is in his second season as the head coach of the Tigers.

Scouting Yale: The lost a hard-fought game at Harvard last week and then were upset at Dartmouth dropping them to 1-3 in the league. Yale played both games without freshman star center Justin Sears due to an ankle injury. The Bulldogs appear to be getting healthy as both Brandon Sherrod and Jesse Pritchard have returned but only Sherrod played last week and in limited fashion. This is traditionally the toughest trip of the season for the Bulldogs but if they can't manage a split their Ivy League hopes appear to be in grave shape. After this weekend Yale plays four straight games at home.

- Bill Cloutier

Here are Friday night's Ivy League men's basketball odds and selections:

at Harvard 13½ Yale

The Crimson struggled with Dartmouth mightily last week and needed overtime to knock off the Big Green, who were picked last in the league. While Harvard swept Yale last season, the Bulldogs are very talented and played well in last week's win over Brown. While Yale is still trying to figure out how to win games like this they should keep it under double-digits: Pick: Yale

at Princeton 14 Cornell
The Tigers could be the best team in the league this year, especially if Harvard's troubles with Dartmouth were a indication that the Crimson might not be that good. Still, 14 points is too much for the gritty Big Red. Pick: Cornell

Columbia 1½ at Penn
The Lions look to be a true contender in the league but they still have to prove that they can win on the road, especially at the Palestra. Pick: Columbia

at Dartmouth 2 Brown
Dartmouth was in control against Harvard but squandered a seven-point in the last minute only to lose in overtime. Brown has a veteran team with good scorers. It will struggle on the second half of the back-to-back games because it has no depth but the Bears can outscore the Big Green. Pick: Brown

Best bet: Brown

-- By Bill Cloutier

Here is my recap of Yale's Ivy League men's basketball season-opening loss at Brown.
The two teams play again this Saturday at New Haven.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — After struggling offensively at the beginning of the season, the Yale men’s basketball team seemed to have things straightened out heading into Saturday’s Ivy League opener.
Not so fast.
Sean McGonagill led four Brown players in double figures with 20 points and the Bears cruised to a 65-51 win at the Pizzitola Center. The Bulldogs, who scored just 35 points in their second game of the season and only 47 in a game a week later, looked like they were back to square one. Greg Kelley led Yale (6-12) with 11 points and no one else scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, who shot just 33 percent for the game.
“(The offense) was stale and stagnant. Not enough energy,” Yale coach James Jones said. “We didn’t do a good job of moving. When you don’t move and you don’t set good screens you don’t run a good offense. We had tough shots all night and it’s hard to make tough shots.
Yale entered the game averaging 77 points over its last seven contests and twice topped 100 in the stretch. But nothing worked on Saturday.
“I’m extremely disappointed with our offense,” Jones said. “Brown packs it in on defense, so it wasn’t like they were denying us. We just failed to have enough energy to play the way we should.”
The most telling stat of all in Saturday’s debacle was that Yale didn’t record an assist for the game’s first 28 minutes, finishing with just four.
“It’s always tough to win a game when you don’t have an assist,” Yale senior guard Austin Morgan said. “We have to work on spreading the court and trying to look for each other. Ivy League basketball is different. You have to execute at a much higher level when the league starts.

“We were ready, but this is not what we envisioned.”
Yale’s offensive woes were so bad in the beginning of the second half that Jones could barely watch. He strolled to the end of the bench, then stood off the court with his arms folded in disbelief.
“I thought our guys came out a little tight,” Jones said. “One of the things about playing so many games on the road, you’d figure that our guys would have experienced it.”
Brown got 13 points from Matt Sullivan and 11 from Stephen Albrecht in beating Yale for the first time in the last six meetings.
“This is big for us,” McGonagill said. “It’s always huge to start the Ivy League with a win and we haven’t done that, so that made this game very important.”
Yale led only in the game’s opening minutes. Then Jones went to his second unit and they were outscored 11-4 as the Bears took a 17-13 lead. Brown never trailed again.
The Bears took a 33-24 lead into the half and then opened up a 21-point lead with 14:25 left to play. That’s the only time the Bulldogs showed some life. Kelley scored seven straight points in a 14-0 Yale run to cut the deficit to 49-42 with 9:50 to play.
But Yale couldn’t get the ball inbounds on its next possession and McGonagill ended the comeback bid with a difficult, fade-away 3-pointer in front of the Brown bench.
“You’re not going to hold them scoreless forever,” Jones said. “You want to make sure you can weather the storm and we didn’t do that.”
“That was a turning point in the game,” Morgan said. “He’s a great shooter and that was the biggest play of the game.”
Said Brown coach Mike Martin: “I expect that from Sean. He’s one of, if not the best guard in the league. I have all the faith in the world in McGonagill.”
Yale never got closer than eight the rest of the way and Albrecht put the game out of reach with back-to-back 3-pointers soon after. Brown hit 8 of 20 from beyond the arc while Yale finished 4-for-22.
The two teams meet again next week at the Lee Amphitheater. Brown, which has finished near the bottom of the league for the past several years, seems poised for a better finish. The Bears (7-8) have won three straight and beat Providence earlier in the season.

On Thursday, the Ivy League announced today that its directors of athletics have decided not to move forward with proposals for postseason tournaments in men's and women's basketball.
"After careful consideration of these proposals, the athletics directors decided that our current method of determining the Ivy League Champion and our automatic bid recipient to the NCAA Championship is the best model moving forward," said Robin Harris, Ivy League Executive Director.
In men's and women's basketball, the Ivy League plays a 14-game, double round-robin schedule where each team plays each other home and away. The team with the best conference record in each sport is awarded the Ivy title and the League's NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
The Ivy League athletics directors discussed the proposals at their annual meetings, which concluded Thursday afternoon in Red Bank, N.J.
The Ivy League Office will not comment further on this matter.