The No. 1 seed in the Ivy League tournament, Yale appeared NCAA tournament-bound on Sunday with a 73-69 lead over No. 3 seed Penn and 12 seconds left in the conference championship game.
But Penn’s TJ Power rallied Penn to overtime with two 3s in the final 6.7 seconds of regulation. From there, Penn went on to an 88-84 win to win the title game and secure the league’s only projected NCAA tournament bid and eliminate Harvard.
Power’s 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left cut Harvard’s lead to 73-72. Penn then fouled, and Harvard hit both free throws to extend its lead to 75-72. Power then took the inbounds pass under the Penn basket, drove up court and pulled up from 3 from the right wing.
His game-tying shot dropped with 1 second remaining.
tj power forces overtime; penn vs yale pic.twitter.com/cnA7cTQ0VQ
— ◇ (@F0RGIAT0) March 15, 2026
Harvard’s ensuing 3/4-court heave had a chance, but bounced off the back of the rim, and the game went to the extra session, where Penn prevailed.
The Quakers knocked off No. 2 seed Harvard in the tournament semifinals, then No. 1 Yale in Sunday’s championship game.
With the win, head coach Fran McCaffery leads his alma mater to the NCAA tournament in his first year as head coach. The former Iowa coach has now led five different teams to the NCAA tournament.
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