Princeton scored the last four points of overtime at the free throw line and somehow found a way to pull out a 62-59 win over Penn.
The Quakers had the ball up one with :38.6 to go. At the end of their possession a slipping Jack Eggleston called time out going down on a cut to try and keep the ball with his team. However, Penn was out of time outs and a technical foul was awarded.
Douglas Davis, who cracked the 1,000 point club earlier in the night, missed his first attempt but tied the game with the second.
Possession stayed with Penn and Ian Hummer stole the Quakers' inbounds pass with six on the shot clock. In the near corner inbounds man Miles Cartwright fouled Hummer and Hummer confidently made both free throws to give the Tigers a two point lead.
Zack Rosen drove into the lane and dished off to an open Fran Dougherty, who painfully threw his attempt to tie from point blank range nearly over the rim and into Dan Mavraides' hands.
Mavraides made one of two at the line and Rosen's runner from deep was wide to the left as time expired.
A spent Mavraides fell forward prone on the Jadwin Gym hardwood. It seemed borderline impossible, but Princeton had improved to 5-0 in the Ivy League.
Mavraides was one of four Tigers to score 11 points - joined by Patrick Saunders, Davis and Mack Darrow.
Tyler Bernardini hit five times from outside and tallied 19 for Penn. Bernardini's fifth triple with :03.6 left in regulation on a marvelous designed inbounds play sent the game to overtime.
Good evening. Here's a special Penn edition of our Know! Your! Foe! series, wherein I exchange emails with Mr. Jonathan Tannenwald (pictured above with a special friend).
This is my second go-round talking about the Quakers with the Philly.com night editor, founder of the Soft Pretzel Logic blog and Big 5 basketball expert.
Two things. First, it’s not all that often that Ivy League games go to one overtime, much less two overtimes. Second of all, it was a really even contest over the last 25 minutes or so. Penn came back, then Harvard went ahead, then Penn rallied in regulation and again in the first overtime. Penn went ahead for the first time all night in the second overtime, but Harvard really reached down and made one more big push to get the win.
When I made the assertion about it being the best Ivy League game I’ve seen, a few Penn fans countered with the Quakers’ 2005 comeback against Princeton at the Palestra. I replied that the Harvard game was a much more even contest, whereas that Princeton game was one-way traffic for each team. For most of the game, it was in Princeton’s direction, then it was all in Penn’s direction at the end.
There is a third factor that made the night memorable – the atmosphere was outstanding. It’s been a long time since the Palestra was that loud for a Penn game. It was even louder than the game against St. Joe’s a few weeks ago, which drew a bigger crowd.
Obviously it is a familiar thing for people who have been watching the Quakers for a while, and I’m sure Princeton fans have witnessed that kind of electricity too. But for the current generation of Penn students it was a new feeling. I’ve spoken with a number of them since Saturday and they all said it was the best game they’ve seen, and a night they will remember for a long time.
For the third straight season, Mercer County Community College scrimmaged the Princeton JV at Jadwin Gym. This game remains an enjoyable opportunity to watch two teams that run similar offenses face off and is also a chance to observe several Tigers in action that have seen limited playing time this season.
The game tipped in front of single digits on Friday afternoon four hours before the varsity and Harvard would do battle.
The latest collection of videos from various corners of the Princeton basketball family. Above, "Juice" Thompson and Bill Carmody talk to Bill Rafferty after the Northwestern Wildcats knocked off Illinois. Game highlights and additional videos after the jump.
While the overall crowd was smaller (4,148 vs. 5,775), I did confirm that there were more students in attendance on Friday than when Princeton hosted Cornell last season. Excellent work from the Tiger undergraduates. Come back on Tuesday!
Mondays belong to the student papers. The Daily Princetonian, the Harvard Crimson and the Dartmouth write about their respective schools' performances over the weekend.
The Crimson also has a supplemental notebook piece about Friday's showdown.
Someone from Main Ingredient Lifestyle Company went to the Harvard/Princeton game and shares their positive thoughts on the experience.
Will Venable is part of the Padres' 2011 FanFest, which takes place on February 12th.
Justin Harper scored 16 in a 77-60 Richmond (18-6) win at Fordham.
16 days after beating Arkansas State by 38, Denver (11-12) fell 60-35 at the Red Wolves.
Oregon State (9-13) lost at home to Washington State, 61-55.
Around the Ivy League: Oliver McNally drove down the left baseline with 11 seconds left, giving Harvard (16-4 / 5-1) an 83-82 double overtime win at Penn (9-9 / 3-1). Cornell (5-15 / 1-5) won their first conference game of the season, 91-79 at Brown (8-12 / 1-5). Yale (11-9 / 4-2) held off Columbia (12-8 / 3-3) behind 21 points and nine rebounds from Greg Mangano.
The answers were the same because the focus remained the same.
Defense.
Following the Tigers' 68-53 win over Dartmouth, Johnson felt the difference between the start of the first half - where the Big Green opened on a 12-3 run, and the start of the second half - where the Tigers began an extended 32-10 crush, was his team's execution without the basketball.
"We're not giving you guys new stuff to write about and talk about, but that's where our bread is buttered," Johnson said after his initial compunction. "Defensively we were better. It allowed us to get stops, then convert a fair amount and control the game a little bit more. The first half we didn't stop them enough to do that."
Shooting 60.9% from the field and scoring the last seven points before the break, Dartmouth knotted Princeton at 34 heading off the floor.
Princeton outscored Dartmouth 9-2 to open the second half. The Big Green went nearly eight minutes without a basket after already falling behind by eight. When Randy Melville’s son Tyler scored inside to end this drought there was only 3:12 showing and the result was well in hand.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
