NEW YORK CITY – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team engaged in a fierce battle with Columbia Saturday night at the Lions' Levien Gym, and while the Quakers made several defensive plays down the stretch they could not quite catch their hosts and fell, 70-67. The Red and Blue had two chances to tie it in the final seconds, but a first three-point attempt was off the mark and the second was blocked as the clock expired. 

The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Penn, who fell to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in Ivy play. Columbia improved to 11-14 overall, and the Lions are also 5-7 in Ivy play.

Penn and Columbia are now tied for fourth place in the Ivy League standings, and split the season series as each team held court at home. The results also kept Cornell, Dartmouth and Brown -- all losers tonight -- within two games of Penn and Columbia with one final weekend to play.

*Penn lost for just the second time when leading at the half in the Steve Donahue coaching era; the Quakers are now 17-2 in such games, and both times they lost their halftime lead was two points.

*Penn knocked down 10 three-pointers, giving them 60 in the last six games (10.0 3pg).

*Penn shot 11 of 13 from the foul line, an .846 percentage which was the Quakers' second-best percentage in a game this season.

*Penn had 17 assists on its 23 baskets, a .739 ratio.

*Sophomore Jackson Donahue was absolutely ablaze in the early going, knocking down four three-pointers in the opening half. He had a final look to tie the game at the end of regulation but the shot did not fall.

*Freshman AJ Brodeur finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds, finishing just two boards shy of a double-double.

*Freshman Ryan Betley had 12 points, his fifth-straight game in double digits, while senior Matt Howard had 10 points and five boards.

All eyes of Ivy League basketball were on Levien Gym on this night, with Penn looking to clinch a bid into the inaugural Ivy League Tournament and Columbia fighting for its Tournament life on its Senior Night. They played a game that lived up to the billing, as Saturday's game in front of a near-sellout crowd had 10 lead changes and was tied 11 times (six alone in the second half).

The largest lead anyone held was a seven-point advantage; both times it was Columbia who was on top, once in each half. The second-half advantage was 67-60 with 5:37 left after a Nate Hickman three-pointer. To its credit, Penn locked Columbia down after that, holding the Lions scoreless on six-straight possessions. In the meantime, the Quakers got a trey from Howard and then two minutes later Betley drove for a layup to make the score 67-65.

Penn came up with the last two of the six defensive stops after that, but could not equalize as Darnell Foreman and then Brodeur missed shots in the paint. With the shot clock winding down and just over a minute left in regulation, Columbia's Mike Smith (20 points) stuck a dagger as he swished a three-pointer from the left corner to push the Lions back up by five, 70-65.

Betley quickly drove, was fouled, and made both shots to make it a one-possession game. Penn then chose to play it out defensively and made yet another stop. Out of a final timeout, Donahue got a look from the top of the key, but his shot was off the mark. Penn got the offensive board, but a final trey attempt was blocked by the Lions' Luke Petrasek and the clock ran out.

Penn concludes the regular season at home next Friday and Saturday, hosting Dartmouth on Friday night and Harvard on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m.