Ivy Champs!

Princeton men's basketball's leading scorer for the game was the first to make a snip. Junior guard Ahmed El Nokali, who scored 14 points and committed only one turnover in 40 minutes of play, was as careful with the scissors as he was with the ball against Penn last night when he made the initial cut to bring down the net.

After the rest of the team made their contribution to taking down the net at Jadwin Gym, senior center Nate Walton — who has been the Tiger's leader this season — fittingly made the final cut to the twine and placed it around his neck.

Just as it took everyone to help take down the net, it was once again a total team effort by Princeton (16-10 overall, 11-3 Ivy Leauge) to resoundingly defeat the Quakers (12-17, 9-5), 68-52. The Tigers used a 19-3 run in the second half to put the game out of the Quakers' grasp and seal the victory. With the win, the Tigers are now Ivy League champions, and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

"I told the guys right from the beginning that we could be here," head coach John Thompson '88 said.

With all the deparatures at the beginning of the season, it was easy to write off Princeton's season and label this a rebuilding year.

"I think that cupboard wasn't as bare as you thought it was," Thompson told any remaining doubters after the game.

Last night, the Tiger's offensive and defensive arsenals were well-stocked. On offense, the team shot 53.7 percent from the field, making 11 of 20 three-pointers. On defense, the Tigers held Penn to just bellow 40 percent shooting and made 13 steals. Every time the Quakers tried to go on a run, Princeton answered with a basket.

The game started as an outside shootout, with each team taking threes. Sophomore forward Kyle Wente hit a wide open three to start things off, but was answered from downtown by Penn guards Lamar Plummer and Dave Klatsky. Klatsky — who went 4-for-4 for the Quakers from behind the arc in the first half and led Penn with 15 — singlehandedly kept the Quakers in the game with his outside shooting.

But Penn's reliance on the long ball and its inability to establish an inside game severely limited the Quakers' scoring opportunities. Despite a four-inch height advantage over Princeton's tallest player, the 6 foot, 7 inch Walton, Penn center Geoff Owens managed just five points against a stingy Tiger defense.

"I think their defense is geared towards stopping the inside game," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said."I thought Princeton did a great job tonight."

While the Tigers had an answer to Penn's offense, the Quakers struggled all night to contain Princeton. After only getting one backdoor basket on the Quakers during their first meeting this season, last night the Tigers had at least five. Included in Walton's seven assists were backdoor passes to three different Tigers, who burned their Quaker defenders for easy layups. With the seven assists, the senior captain now has 265 career assists, passing Armond Hill '76 and Brian Earl '99, moving into sixth place all-time for the Tigers.

The Quakers led for much of the first half, until a three by junior forward Mike Bechtold tied the game at 18. After Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe — who had 14 points for the Quakers — missed a jumper, freshman forward Konrad Wysocki grabbed the rebound. In the next Tiger possession, with the shot clock winding down and no one to pass to, Wysocki squared himself to the basket and launched a three pointer from 27 feet. The ball found nothing but net, the freshman trotted backwards with his right arm pointing towards the sky, and the Quakers would never regain the lead.

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When the final buzzer sounded, eight different Tigers had scored and three finished in double digits. As Princeton had done all season, they won with a complete team effort, and because of this accomplishment the Tigers will make their return to the field of 64.