PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team has punched its ticket to #IvyMadness for the third time in as many years after earning a 58-51 win over Brown on Saturday night at The Palestra. The game was essentially a play-in game to the third annual Ivy League Tournament, with the winner guaranteed the fourth and final spot in New Haven, Conn. along with Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
 
Penn will play Harvard, which earned the top seed by virtue of an 83-81 overtime win at Columbia on Saturday night. The Crimson tied Yale atop the regular-season standings—both teams finished 10-4 in League play—but earned the top seed by beating the Bulldogs twice in head-to-head competition. Penn and Harvard will square off at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by second-seeded Yale and third-seeded Princeton.
 
Both Penn and Brown finished 7-7 in Ivy League play, but the Quakers earned the Ivy Tournament nod by beating the Bears in both of their meetings this year. Penn is 19-11 overall.
 
Notes
*This was Penn's third straight win overall and the Quakers' fifth straight over Brown.
 
*Penn had 12 steals, the fourth time the Quakers have reached double figures in that category this season and one shy of their season high.

*For the ninth time this season, Penn took more three-point shots (31) than two-point shots (29).

*Brown committed 22 turnovers, tied for an opponent high in the Steve Donahue coaching era.
 
*Junior Devon Goodman came off the bench for the first time this season, deferring to Jackson Donahue on Senior Night, but led Penn with 20 points.
 
*This was Goodman's fourth time reaching the 20-point mark, and he has reached double figures in five straight games and 11 of the last 12.
 
*Junior AJ Brodeur scored in double figures for the 24th straight game, with 18 points, and he also had seven rebounds and four assists.
 
*Senior Jake Silpe scored 13 points, all in the first half, for his first double-figure scoring game in four contests and his seventh such game this season.
 
*Senior Max Rothschild set a season high with three steals, tied a season best with seven rebounds, and had four assists in 25 minutes.
 
How It Happened
After falling behind 4-2 early, Penn put together eight consecutive points to jump ahead 10-4 behind three early buckets from AJ Brodeur—fresh off his 25-point night Friday over Yale—and a three from Jake Silpe. However, thanks to six straight from Desmond Cambridge, Brown scored the next eight points to snatch the lead back at 12-10 with 13:49 left in the first half.
 
Silpe snapped Penn's 4:16 scoring drought when he drilled a corner three after Max Rothschild zipped a right-handed, no-look pass from the opposite block. The three not only ended the lull offensively, but also put the Quakers up 13-12 with under 12 minutes to play before half.
 
Down 14-13, Devon Goodman stepped back and canned a trey to put Penn back ahead and then Rothschild found a backdoor-cutting Silpe for a bucket for five straight points. On Penn's next possession, Jackson Donahue hit a cutting Silpe for another layup to make it 20-16. Silpe scored again, this time on a fast break, to push the Penn lead to five with just 5:47 left in the first half.
 
Brown countered with the next six consecutive points to yank the lead away at 25-24 with just under four minutes left. Another Goodman three traded the lead once more, but the Bears leveled it at 27-27 as the teams went to the locker room for halftime.
 
Penn struck first to open the second half, scoring the opening eight points of the period. Brodeur had four of them, while Rothschild and Goodman each added a pair. The lead was still eight with 16:39 to play when Brown threw its counterpunch. First, on an inbound play, Brodeur ducked through the back door and then slipped a pass to Goodman for a bucket, but, ultimately, a 13-4 Bears run was enough for the lead to switch hands again, at 40-39.
 
The Quakers, who honored six seniors before the opening tip, stayed calm. Goodman knocked down another triple, Brodeur made a right-handed hook and then Antonio Woods stared down a three from the wing to create some separation, taking a 47-42 lead. Brodeur added another score then Goodman, who finished with a game-high 20 points, pump faked from straightaway, side stepped and knocked down his fourth long ball of the night. Next possession, the junior guard inbounded the ball to Brodeur at the wing and then knifed behind to receive the pass and lay it up to create the largest lead of the night, 10, at 54-44 with 8:34 to play.
 
The battle of runs continued as Brown scored the next six points to creep within four, at 54-50, at the six-minute mark.
 
With 3:05 to play, both teams were still locked at 54-50, but Rothschild managed to hop in front of a passing lane and Brodeur backed his way inside for a lefty layup to put Brown at arm's length once more. A Bears free throw trimmed the lead to five, but huge stops on the defensive end preserved the lead, despite Penn hitting just one field goal in the final 8:34.
 
Woods rattled home two late free throws to seal the 58-51 win and punch Penn's ticket back to #IvyMadness.