Palestra

Penn is a step closer to a potential one-game playoff for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. With Zack Rosen scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, Penn pulled away from Brown late for a 54-43 victory before 2,834 at the Palestra. Thanks to Princeton's 64-57 home victory over Yale and Harvard's 77-70 overtime defeat of Columbia in New York, Penn (18-11, 10-2 Ivy League) and Harvard are the only two teams left in contention for the Ivy championship.

ARCHBISHOP CARROLL point guard Meghan Creighton knocked down three of four free throws in overtime to lead the Patriots over Archbishop Wood, 40-38, in the Catholic League girls' championship game last night at the Palestra. Seven of eight from the stripe on the night, Creighton's lone miss came with 4.8 seconds left in overtime. It was just enough time for Vikings guard Jackie Pierson to get off a last-second heave that clanked off the front of the rim, giving Carroll its third league title in 4 years.

It was apparent by about Thanksgiving that this was going to be the first season in a while where every team in the city had the opportunity to put together a good to very good season. If Saint Joseph's and La Salle can each win two more games, this will be the first season since 1998-99 that four teams will win 20 games. Drexel and Temple are already there. And if Penn (15-11) could somehow run the Ivy table, or failing that, get into some kind of postseason and win, it could be the first time in city history that five teams would win 20 in the same season.

The special memories came rushing back to Marc Jackson and Matt Maloney as they returned to the Palestra on Tuesday to join the latest class to be inducted into the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame. For Jackson, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, played at Temple, and spent two of his 13 professional seasons with the 76ers, it was as a kid sneaking into the Palestra through a number of passageways just so he could play basketball. "When I got here today, I'm thinking, 'Do I come in the front door?

If Drexel, now tied for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association, keeps winning basketball games but doesn't win the conference tournament, the NCAA selection committee will have a big job on its hands. The gap between Drexel's schedule on paper and its ability on the court could be the widest in college basketball. Ultimately, the committee will have to choose between the schedule and the team itself - and that could be bad news for the Dragons. No doubt, Drexel's Bracket Buster game at Cleveland State on Saturday is a must-not-lose.

As the night began, a Harvard staffer looked over at the stuffed-in West stands of the nearly full Palestra and said, "Wow, are those all students?" Yes, right up to those standing in the top row in front of the air vents. It was a corners crowd on 33d Street Friday night - as in, those were the places to find seats. The attendance of 7,462 stands as the largest this group of Harvard players had ever seen in Ivy play. Maybe any group, at least in a long time. Despite Harvard's national ranking, and how close the Crimson came to the NCAA tournament last March, this remains uncharted territory.

Perhaps it's too early to count out St. Joseph's. Thanks to Saturday's 70-66 victory over La Salle, the Hawks sit a game and a half behind first-place Temple in the Atlantic Ten standings. Yes, this is the same St. Joseph's (15-9, 5-4 A-10, 2-1 Big Five) that lost four of five games heading into matchups at Richmond and against the Explorers at the Palestra. But after back-to-back victories, the Hawks are in the mix for a conference title. "This game was big today," said St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli, whose team knocked La Salle (17-7, 6-3, 1-2)

There were a couple of different Penn-Princeton games going on Monday night at the Palestra. One was a battle, typical of the rivalry. A first half that featured exquisite shotmaking. A second half that got down to business, bodies flying. Penn pulling out to a lead, Princeton continually getting back in it. Separate from all that - above it all - Zack Rosen made the 225th renewal of Penn-Princeton memorable, as the Quakers pulled away for an 82-67 victory in front of 6,835, breaking the Tigers' five-game hold on the series.