In Ivy play, Tigers start season right

Men's basketball began intersession by blowing out Ursinus after almost three weeks off. The next two games were a different story, however. Opening up its Ivy League season, the Tigers came out on top of two pivotal battles that came down to the wire.

The Tigers started off by thrashing Ursinus (12-6) on Jan. 27 in Jadwin Gym. Princeton (8-7, 2-0 Ivy League) reeled off an Ivy League-record 20 three-pointers in their 99-56 victory. The Tigers set two more team records that night, as well — 31 assists and nine players with at least one three-pointer.

Crimson attack

Friday night Princeton played host to its first Ivy League opponent of the season, Harvard (10-6, 2-1). The game was close from tipoff to final buzzer, as the Crimson were led by senior forward Brady Merchant, who put in a total of 18 points, including Harvard's first six.

His Tiger counterpart, sophomore forward Will Venable, led both teams with 21 points, including five of Princeton's first nine.

The game started out even, with ties at fifteen points and twenty-two points, but Princeton pulled away before halftime, leading the Crimson 37-29 at the break.

It looked like the Tigers had the game in the bag, especially when Harvard's seven foot, 225 pound senior center Brian Sigafoos picked up his fourth foul only four minutes into the second half. However, in the ensuing minutes, the Crimson climbed back into the game. Having led by as many as nine points, the Tigers clung to a meager lead as they flung errant three-pointers at the basket, failing to heed their cheerleaders advice: "We want two, yeah, we want two."

With nine minutes, 32 seconds left in the game, Harvard pulled even with the Tigers at 46 apiece. The teams exchanged the lead until Princeton was able to pull ahead, 57-52. Yet the Crimson climbed back into the contest, grabbing a 59-58 lead with only 2:11 left in the game on a baseline drive from guard Patrick Harvey, who was labeled as "Airball" by the crowd after whiffing on a shot early in the second half.

The teams swapped the lead twice more, giving Princeton the lead, 62-61, in the final minute. Harvard pushed the ball down court, but just past mid-court sophomore forward Judson Wallace poked the ball free and toward the Harvard goal. Junior forward Spencer Gloger sprinted to catch up to the ball and laid it in at the other end, putting the Tigers up, 64-61, with only 20 seconds to play.

Harvard was unable to score again, and Princeton won the game, 67-61, after three free throws.

Unexpected struggle

No one expected the following night's opponent, Dartmouth (4-12, 0-3), to provide Princeton with nearly as much trouble, except for Thompson.

"You can lose to any team," Thompson said. "The nature of conference play is anybody can beat anybody."

The star from the previous night, Venable, walked onto the court in Jadwin Saturday night in street clothes, thanks to a deep thigh bruise suffered against Harvard.

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Senior forward Ray Robins started in his place and contributed right from the start. The game started slowly for both teams, with Robins having scored 11 of Princeton's 28 points by the half.

Nearly a fourth of the game had gone by before the combined scores of the two teams reached ten points. The scoring picked up later in the half, with Princeton leading the Big Green by as much as 13 points on multiple occasions thanks to strong play by Robins, including a dunk with 8:39 left in the period. Dartmouth pulled within six before Robins hit a jump shot with three seconds left in the half, making the score 28-20 at the half.

Princeton looked to be in total control of the game, but Dartmouth continued to chip away at the lead until forward Jason Meyer hit a three-pointer with 6:05 left in the game, pulling Dartmouth within three points, 45-42. Guard Steve Callahan tied the game at 47 points with 4:17 left, showing that Dartmouth had a serious chance to capture the victory.

For the second night in a row, however, the Tigers were able to complete their task thanks to some clutch free throw shooting near the end.

With the score tied at 49, Princeton hit five straight free throws. But with only 21 seconds to play, Dartmouth's Calvin Arnold hit a double clutch three-pointer to put the Big Green down only two. Dartmouth would not score again, and Robins iced the game with three more free throws, giving the Tigers the win, 57-52.