The lasting image from the weekend's men's basketball games, if it wasn't the scoreboard that read "44-14" at halftime of Saturday's match against the University of Pennsylvania, was probably the seniors' send-off later that night.
With 2:40 left in the Bears' blowout, Head Coach Craig Robinson had one of his players foul to stop the game in order to properly give Damon Huffman '08 and Mark McAndrew '08 their due.
The team captains, in their last game at the Pizzitola Center, smiled glowingly and waved to the crowd, which gave them a standing ovation. As they walked off the court, they then got hugs from Robinson and the rest of the team.
It was a fitting tribute to the duo, which led the Bears to an impressive 75-43 win over Penn after helping them to a 64-57 comeback victory against Princeton Friday night.
"I couldn't be happier," Huffman said Saturday, before listing why: He won his last home game, beat his former coach, helped tie the team's record for wins in a season (17) and became Brown's all-time career leader in three-pointers made (216).
The only blemish in the seniors' weekend was Cornell (20-5, 12-0 Ivy), which wrapped up the Ivy League title Saturday night by beating Harvard. That means the Bears (17-9, 9-3 Ivy) will finish the season in second place.
It also means that All-Ivy senior guards, as well as injured center Mark MacDonald '08, will end their college careers without a league championship or NCAA Tournament trip.
Still, with two games left in the season, Huffman and McAndrew said they are as motivated as ever. They want the Bears to set the basketball program's season win record. They're also hoping to play in a postseason tournament, such as the National Invitation Tournament or the newly created College Basketball Invitational, which will take 16 teams.
"If we go 19-9 and we have a big win like this over Penn, maybe you make (the NIT selection committee) say, 'Huh, maybe we should get Brown into the NIT,' " Robinson said.
On Saturday, the Bears quickly made their case for postseason play against Penn and their head coach, Glen Miller, who headed Brown's program from 1999 to 2006. Brown defenders, playing their matchup 2-3 zone, pestered Penn shooters who went just 6-for-19 from the floor in the half.
Meanwhile, almost everything was dropping for the Bears. Peter Sullivan '11 scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, with many points coming off cuts to the basket set up by screens.
"We were up 23 to 5 and that set the tone," Huffman said. "I think we knew and they knew that they weren't going to get back in it."
One play that epitomized the Bears' night: With 2:10 to play in the half, forward Scott Friske '09 banked in a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Bears a 40-10 lead. He shook his head as he ran back to play defense.
"Yeah, I totally meant to do that," he joked after the game. He had his best game of the year, with 13 points and five rebounds.
Friske hit a layup on the next possession to give the Bears a 32-point lead, prompting the group of elementary school-aged kids behind the basket to chant, "Up by thiiiirty-two! Up by thiiiirty-two!" The Bears would go into the halftime up 44-14, after hitting 65 percent of their field goals.
Second-half play was a bit more even, as Brown outscored Penn, 31-29. The Bears flirted with a 40-point lead, but never broke the barrier. Robinson used the last few minutes of the game to play his reserve players in the 75-43 win.
The wins "mean a lot," McAndrew said. "Penn and Princeton players are the powers of the Ivy League. (Their players) think they're better than you because of the names on their jersey."
Robinson credited his team's matchup 2-3 zone defense for sticking close to Penn's shooters, who shot just 39 percent for the game. He was also impressed with McAndrew, who scored a game-high 16 points, and Huffman, who had 14.
"It's so hard (for your seniors) to play well on senior night," because of the added pressure, Robinson said.
Miller, who spoke in a hushed voice after the game, was clearly disappointed with his team, but did find a bit of consolation in seeing Huffman and McAndrew, two players he recruited, do so well.
"I care a whole lot for these guys," the former Brown coach said. "McAndrew and Huffman are ... up there with anyone in terms of commitment to the game. That's the greatest compliment I can give them. That's why they've had the year that they've had."
On Friday, the Bears handled Robinson's alma mater, Princeton, though it took a late run to do so. After a back-and-forth first half, Brown led 30-27, with Huffman scoring 12 of his game-high 18 points in that period.
But with the Bears trailing 43-38 with 11:57 remaining in the game, Brown went on a 19-2 run, powered by three-pointers from the weekend's MVPs, Huffman and McAndrew, and points from Sullivan, Chris Skrelja '09 and Adrian Williams '11. The Tigers missed nine shots in that span while committing two turnovers.
Before Princeton broke the run at the 3:27 mark, Brown had a double-digit lead. It dwindled slightly in the last minutes, but the Bears hit free throws down the stretch for a 64-57 win.
After the game, Robinson said he had thought his team would have a letdown after last Saturday, when the Bears lost what amounted to a championship at Cornell. But he was thrilled with the team's defense, which held the Tigers to 40 percent shooting from the floor, compared to Brown's 45 percent. A good example of this was guard Lincoln Gunn, who had a particularly awful night, missing all 10 of his field goal attempts and scoring no points.
McAndrew, an Ivy League Player of the Year contender, had 14 points for the Bears, while Skrelja had his third double-double of the season, with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Matt Mullery '10 had a career-high 14 points - but the Bears took a blow when he went down with an injured knee midway through the second half.
A Tiger player fell on Mullery's knee after he blocked the Princeton player's shot, the 6-foot-8 Bruno forward said. Mullery added that he would have an MRI Monday.
Mullery had been starting at center for MacDonald, who has missed eight out of the past 10 games after suffering a concussion. Forwards Friske and Chris Taylor '11 took his spot for the rest of the night and on Saturday.
Robinson blamed the Bears' slow start partly on himself. The coach, who is usually unafraid to stand and shout at referees and his players, had been quietly sitting on the sidelines for the past three games. He said he had been sick for the past week and hadn't been able to rest because of coaching and campaigning for his brother-in-law, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in the morning, before work.
"When I'm animated, they're animated," Robinson said, half-jokingly. "But when I don't feel well, they don't play well."
Robinson will have a chance to rest this week, though perhaps only after Rhode Island's primary elections on Tuesday.
The Bears will travel to Dartmouth on Friday and end their regular season at Harvard on Saturday.
