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Lafayette 76 Princeton 71 (OT).

box score
audio - coach sydney johnson, kyle koncz & lincoln gunn

If Princeton's loss to Manhattan last month was a shot to the gut, this evening's overtime defeat at the hands of Lafayette was even harder to take.

The visiting Leopards rallied from an 17 point halftime deficit, sending the Tigers to their 12th consecutive defeat, 76-71.

Ted Detmer scored a team-best 15 points off the bench to lead Lafayette. Bilal Abdullah had 14, including a perfect 4-4 touch behind the three point line.

Kyle Koncz topped three Princeton players in double figures with 15 points on 3-10 shooting. Zach Finley contributed 12 along with eight rebounds.

The first half was Princeton's best of the Sydney Johnson era. The Tigers' switching man-to-man defense caused Lafayette a great deal of trouble. Princeton was efficient, creative and effective offensively.

Finley scored the Tigers' first six points, starting with an opening lob from Noah Savage.

Princeton was down 8-4 when Michael Gruner sized up a deep three point shot as Savage was unable to get through a high screen.

Finley scored on a reverse in the post and Koncz was true from outside on a pass from Lincoln Gunn for the 128th time in his career to put Princeton back in front by one.

Kevin Steuerer, starting for the second straight game, came up with a steal and threaded a pass to a driving Gunn for a layup. Following a Detmer layup that was flicked in over his shoulder while being fouled by Finley, Gunn capped off seven straight points with a three point shot on the wing that made the score 16-13 Tigers.

The foul was Finley's second and he would spend the final 14:12 of the first half on the bench.

The Tigers held an 18-15 edge midway through the first half after a Andrew Brown layup. A posting Steuerer started off a 14-0 Princeton run.

Princeton designed an inbounds play that resulting in a Noah Savage jumper from the right baseline and the Tigers flipped the same call to the left baseline on the next possession for a second make. Both assists went to Gunn.

Marcus Schroeder, seeing his first minutes after sitting for the entire Lehigh game, fed Savage behind the arc to make the score 32-18 Tigers.

The lead would extend to an 18 point advantage on two Schroeder free throws with just over a minute to go. Princeton raced to the locker room up 43-26 following a single Detmer free throw.

The Tigers had recorded more points in the first half than they had scored in three separate full games during their losing streak.

Princeton was 14-25 before the break (56.0%), 10-13 from inside the arc. Using a variety of back-cuts and driving hard to the basket, the Tigers earned 12 first half free throws, converting 11 (91.7%).

The Leopards were 7-19 from the floor (36.8%), 3-9 from deep (33.3%) and 9-11 at the line (81.8%) in the opening stanza.

The second half was a different story. Lafayette scored the first 11 points of the second half, completely changing the tenor of the game. "I don't know if we can play any better [in a half]" said Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon to the media afterwards.

Like in the first half, Princeton started with a lob to Finley. This time, Finley left the ball just short of the rim. Down at the other end Savage fouled Brown in transition, who converted both free throws. Savage lost track of a cutting Everest Schmidt for a layup that cut the lead to 13. Princeton called time out.

The lead was 11 at the 17:17 mark. Marcus Schroeder was trapped in the backcourt and called time. The time out was Princeton's last of the game, leaving a long stretch where the Tigers could not stop the clock as Lafayette inched closer and closer.

A fade away hook from Schmidt made the score 43-34 and Matt Betley stole a poor Koncz pass from under the Princeton basket. The ball ended up in Abdullah's hands, who connected on a quick three. The basket pushed Abdullah over the 1,000 point mark for his career. Lafayette was now down just six.

Princeton's drought ended with 14:44 to play when Koncz beat the full court pressure for the layup.

Schroeder slipped in the paint, losing control of the ball, but was somehow able to gather himself long enough to shovel a pass to Nick Lake in the far corner for a three point basket as the shot clock was about to expire. Princeton was in front by nine.

Two more triples from Abdullah, each deeper than the one previous took the lead all the way down to 50-49.

Koncz connected with a back-cutting Lake for a layup down the paint to make it a three point game.

Bobby Foley, in off the bench, hoisted one up on a set inbounds play that made the score 55-49 with 9:34 left.

Lafayette continued to carve the Princeton lead down, taking advantage of sloppy Tiger ballhandling. Kevin Steuerer had a pass tipped away at midcourt and Detmer raced down the court to slam the ball home with two hands.

The two teams turned the ball over on three straight possessions. Gunn was called for an offensive foul pushing off while bringing the ball up. Koncz made an incredible play, stripping Schmidt as he was falling backwards. Lake was whistled for a five second violation, unable to get the ball down to a posting Finley from the wing.

Lake was replaced by Savage, returning to the floor with four fouls.

Savage's stay was short-lived. He fouled out seconds later trying to stop Abdullah on a drive down the left side of the lane. Both free throws were good and Lafayette had the lead for the first time since it was 13-11.

Schroeder put Princeton up one with 1:14 left, somehow banking in a shot in traffic despite possibly not seeing the rim when he let the ball fly.

A loose ball in the paint rolled around on the floor before a tie-up was called, possession going to the Leopards. Betley responded with a pull-up jumper just beyond the free throw line and the Leopards led 62-61 with :42.2 remaining.

Gunn was stripped by Detmer on his way into the paint and Schroeder had no choice but to foul Gruner, who made both free throws. Down three, Koncz tried to even the score but his shot was short of the mark. Gunn tracked down the carrom, passed up a shot of his own and found Koncz again on the opposite side of the floor.

Koncz was on target, pumping his fist in a rare show of emotion as the defense scrambled to set up with just under three seconds left.

A Betley three point shot could only nick the right side of the rim and the game was headed to overtime.

Princeton may have scored the final hoop of regulation, but in the eyes of Coach O'Hanlon, the Tigers looked "tired and shaken."

To start the extra frame, Schmidt could not score on a hook inside and Finley rebounded with two hands. Princeton opened up with a third lob to Finley, the assist going to Steuerer.

Betley drifted to his left behind a screen and fired in a three point shot from the left wing.

Finley cut to the tin and laid in a pass from Steuerer, making the score 68-67 Tigers.

Abdullah's floater was short of the rim, but Detmer came up with the loose ball and scored while being fouled by Finley.

Steuerer got separation and had an open lane, but Schmidt blocked the layup from behind.

Princeton looked like they were about to retain possession down 69-68 after Brown missed a short jumper, but Finley was called for a hold away form the ball while Princeton was rebounding. Schmidt would convert one of two free throws and Lafayette led by two.

Jeff Kari came over from his man to strip Marcus Schroeder on a drive and the end result was an intentional foul on Finley as Kari raced ahead of the pack for an attempted layup.

Four free throws in the final 22 seconds of overtime sealed the Tigers' fate.

The first half was a look at Princeton basketball as Sydney Johnson envisions it, but the complete game was a reminder of just how far this team still has to go.

Notes:

-Princeton was 24-44 from the field (54.5%) on Wednesday, 7-20 from deep (35.0%) and 16-20 at the stripe (80.0%). Zach Finley accounted for three of the Tigers' missed free throws, unable to convert at the line.

-Lincoln Gunn had three assists and no turnovers in the first half, one assist and four turnovers in the second half and overtime.

-Princeton finished with 23 turnovers, 15 in the second half and overtime. Lafayette, on the other hand, had 13 turnovers before intermission and just five the rest of the way. 27 of the Tigers' 43 first half points came off of Lafayette turnovers.

-Lafayette has now defeated Penn and Princeton in the same season for the first time in program history.

-With the victory, Lafayette improved to 4-0 in overtime games this year.

-Princeton heads into an 18 day exam break that ends with a game on Sunday, January 27th against Division II Dominican at 2:00 pm ET.

Stephen Schreiber said,

January 10, 2008 @ 8:32 am

Princeton played a great first half. Unfortunately, Lafayette made adjustments during the halftime break and came out smoking. This may be a result of an experianced coach.

steve silverman said,

January 10, 2008 @ 12:28 pm

I like the fact that Princeton got to the free throw line and actually had some balance between 2 and 3 point shots. In my opinion, this is more of a winning formula going forward than what we've been doing in the past. Though it goes down in the record book as another loss, at least the Tigers were competitive in this game. Hopefully, this loss, unlike most of the others, will provide something to build on.

On a different note, the Athletic Department continues to ignore the losing streak in the pre-game media notes and post-game write ups. I don't know who they think they're fooling, but I think it makes them look silly when they point out all kinds of other arcane statistics and streaks but then ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I'm curious what the thinking is on this. Are they simply trying to avoid reporting bad news? If that's the case, why even report the other team's score? Why not just say Princeton scored 71 points last night and hit nearly 55% of its shots and leave it at that? That way, no one's feelings are hurt and no negative propaganda has been distributed. (Sorry for the sarcasm, but it just bothers me that something as significant and obvious as the losing streak is so conspicuously ignored. It's insulting to the fans and alumni to think we can't handle the truth.) --Steve

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