PRINCETON, N.J. – Cornell, Princeton and Yale continued to distance themselves in the Ivy League men’s basketball standings Friday evening, while Columbia helped its Ivy Madness push.
 
The top four teams will advance to the event which combines the men’s and women’s tournaments. Set for March 15-17 at Levien Gymnasium in New York, both all-session tickets and single-game Ivy Madness tickets are now on sale and may be purchased at IvyMadness.com.
 
Yale’s 8-0 start to league play, tied for its best in program history, will be put the test Saturday evening. The Bulldogs take on Princeton, currently third in the standings at 6-2, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.  
 
Columbia currently sits in the No. 4 spot in the standings at 4-4 – one game ahead of Harvard. The Lions and the Crimson are set to clash in New York Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
Cornell (17-3, 7-1) used a balanced attack to top Harvard (12-9, 3-5) by a score of 75-62. Yale (17-6, 8-0) extended its win streak to 10 games with a 76-62 win over Penn (9-14, 1-7). Princeton came out on top of a tightly contested game against Brown (6-17, 2-7) 72-63.  Columbia (13-8, 4-4) powered past Dartmouth (5-16, 1-7) 73-63.  
 
Cornell had four players score in double figures in its win, with Nazir Williams leading the team with 14 points. The Nyack, N.Y., native was 5-of-6 from the line. Both Cooper Noard and Jake Fiegen connected on three triples, as the Big Red hit 11 overall.
 
Harvard forward Chisom Okpara finished with a game-high 15 points, shooting 4-of-9 from the field.
 
Yale also had four players reach double digits in scoring. John Poulakidas led all scorers with 17 points. Danny Wolf recorded his ninth double-double in his last 11 games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. G Bez Mbeng finished with 16 points and six helpers, while August Mahoney totaled 11 points, shooting 4-of-4 from the floor and connecting on three triples.
 
One of two remaining unbeaten teams in conference play in the nation, the Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent from the field and 88.9 percent at free throw line.
 
Clark Slajchert scored a team-high 12 points for the Quakers, while corralling five boards.
 
Princeton used a 14-0 run late in the second half to pull away from Brown. Matt Allocco led the charge with 10 points during the spurt. He finished with an impressive stat line of 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. Caiden Pierce led all scorers with 21 points. Xaivian Lee (17) and Dalen Davis (10) also scored in double figures.
 
Brown forward Nana Owusu-Anane led the team with 17 points and added five rebounds.
 
Geronmino Rubio De La Rosa exploded offensively for the Lions. The junior guard had 25 points, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Rubio De La Rosa added five boards, five assists, five steals and a block. Zavian McLean also had an impressive shooting night, connecting on six of his eight attempts from the field and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to finish with 15 points.
 
Four Big Green players scored in double figures, led by Dusan Neskovic’s 18 points.
 
FINAL SCORES
Cornell 75, Harvard 62
Yale 76, Penn 62
Princeton 72, Brown 63
Columbia 73, Dartmouth 63