With only five games remaining in the regular season, the race to Ivy Madness is on. Over the weekend, the men’s basketball team (12-10, 4-5 Ivy) picked up two key wins against conference rivals Princeton (16-8, 5-4 Ivy) and Penn (6-16, 2-7).
After this weekend’s successful doubleheader in which the Bears steamrolled Princeton 70-56 and defeated Penn 82-72, Brown now ranks fifth in Ivy League standings. While only the top four teams in the conference qualify for Ivy Madness, the Bears are just one Ivy victory behind Princeton and Cornell, with under three weeks left to play their way in.
“As a team, we already know the formula for success,” N’famara Dabo ’27 wrote in a message to The Herald. “We have to play to our identity: be the hardest-working, toughest, and most-connected team.”
Heading into the second round of Ivy play, the Bears’ prospects for the postseason looked slim. With a pre-weekend conference record of 2-5 each, Brown, Harvard and Penn were all three victories away from fourth place Cornell. Worse for the Bears, they were facing Princeton: a team that, only two weeks prior, handed Bruno a vicious 69-49 defeat.
But with Ivy Madness on the horizon and a four-game homestand to buoy morale, the Bears stepped up. As the home crowd cheered at their backs, Brown bested the favored Princeton team, leaving the night with a 14-point win.
“It was a terrific performance from our team on both ends of the court,” Head Coach Mike Martin ’04 told courtside reporters after the game. “The first half was probably one of the better halves we’ve played all year and (in) the second half … our defense was outstanding.”
From the opening whistle, the Bears commanded the game. With a “Triple L” — a Landon Lewis ’26 layup — Brown took the early lead. Over the course of the next four minutes, their lead rose to 10-2.
The Bears’ offense exploded with eight minutes remaining before the half. Leading by a slim two-point margin, Bruno went on a decisive 15-0 run.
David Rochester ’28 initiated the offensive barrage with a layup and free throws, scoring four points in a row. The Bears then overwhelmed the Tigers, winning the battle in the paint and steamrolling Princeton until the score read 33-16.
With 26 seconds left in the half, Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson ’27 connected with Dabo to slam dunk the half shut. The Bears entered the locker room leading 38-20.
“I think my preparation, self-confidence and my teammates finding me in the right spots played a huge role,” Dabo wrote about his career-high 13-point game. “Shoutout to them for setting me up and making it easier to be effective offensively.”
Though the Tigers stepped up their offensive output in the second half, scoring 36 points, the Bears held even with them. Scoring 32 points of their own, Brown maintained their expansive lead through the final whistle.
When all was said and done, the Bears won the battles for rebounds, assists, and steals and blocks.
“Coming into Friday, we were ready to bring the fight,” Dabo wrote. “In the previous matchup, they used their size to their advantage against our guards, but this time, we didn’t let that happen. Our defense is what won us the game.”
With momentum on their side and a home crowd to energize the court, the Bears suited up less than 24 hours later to confront the Quakers.
For the second night in a row, Kino Lilly Jr. ’25 spearheaded the offense. Totalling 23 points, Lilly not only led the team in points scored, but also assisted his teammates five times throughout the game.
In his senior season, Lilly has cemented himself as Brown’s most prolific three-point shooter, with 321 career threes. Towering more than sixty buckets above the second place — JR Hobbie’s ’17 257 career threes — Lilly’s dominance is hard to contest. Lilly’s 1,821 career points also rank second in program history, trailing behind Earl Hunt’s ’03 2,041.
The Bears opened the game with offensive prowess. Alexander Lesburt Jr. ’26 and Wrisby-Jefferson piloted the early attack that propelled Bruno to a 6-0 lead.
Though less than three minutes had passed, this initial barrage proved too lethal for Penn to overcome. Throughout the forty-minute game, the Bears never trailed.
Key to the Bears’ dominance on both ends of the field was physicality. Out-blocking the Quakers 5 to 0 and collecting 25 defensive rebounds, Brown dominated their own board, routinely denying Penn’s attacks.
“Penn is a really good and physical team,” Dabo wrote. “Our coaches always say that physicality is the answer, so any time we play them, we know we have to match their physicality and even surpass it.”
On the other end of the court, the Bears attacked with better efficiency than the Quakers. In a game that featured an equal number of possessions — 65 for each team — the Bears nonetheless managed to pull away by 10 points.
“It was a terrific win against a team that's playing really well,” Martin said in a postgame press conference. “We earned that win tonight. It wasn’t easy — they challenged us at both ends of the court with their physicality and their execution.”
The Bears will defend the den next Friday against a struggling Columbia team that currently ranks last in the Ivy League. Facing off against Cornell the day after, Brown has a chance to steal the Big Red’s fourth-place ranking in the Ivy League — the minimum position needed to make Ivy Madness.
“As we approach these next five games,” Dabo wrote. “We have to stay together no matter what and always be the hardest-playing team on the floor.”
Lydell Dyer is a sports editor for The Herald. A junior hailing from Bonn, Germany, Lydell is studying nonfiction English and political science, and if he's not off "making words sound pretty," you can find him lifting heavy circles at the Nelson.
