Playing just for pride, men's hoops sweeps weekend

At the beginning of the weekend, there was hope. Though a long shot at best, the men's basketball team clung to the possibility of a share in the Ivy League regular season title.

With three games left for both the Tigers and conference-leading Penn, and a three game spread in the standings, Princeton needed to win out its last three contests and pray that the Quakers would lose both games this weekend before the season finale at Jadwin Gym this Tuesday.

Friday night, the Tigers (16-10 overall, 10-3 Ivy League) held up their end of the bargain with a gutsy 71-61 victory over visiting Cornell (9-18, 4-10).

Penn did not cooperate with Princeton's hopes, beating winless Columbia 63-39, and mathematically eliminating the Tigers from the Ivy League race.

The Quakers' triumph over Cornell the following night knocked Brown out of contention and, in the process, secured Penn's second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

On Friday, when Princeton was still fighting for its postseason life, the squad played hard and played well. Sophomore center Judson Wallace led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Wallace also pulled down five boards and had three blocks on the night. The only blemish on the center's line was in the turnover column, where Wallace committed six.

As a team, the Tigers shot 56 percent from the floor, the fourth straight game the squad had eclipsed the 50 percent barrier.

Senior forward Ray Robins, playing in what may be his final five days in a Princeton uniform, dumped in 21 points on a very efficient 8-of-10 shooting night.

Freshman guard Scott Greenman tied his career high with 11 points and also came away with three steals. Senior swingman Kyle Wente, also in the twilight of his collegiate career, finished the game with nine points.

In one of the more interesting lines of the night, Cornell guard Ka'Ron Barnes scored 14 points on 1-for-10 shooting from the field. The Big Red's leading scorer made up for his ineptitude from the floor by nailing 12 of 14 free throws on the night.

Cornell was led by center Eric Taylor, who recorded 17 points and nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end. For the game, the visiting Big Red outrebounded the Tigers 28-19, including a staggering 14-5 advantage on the offensive glass.

Walking on the doormat

On Saturday, Princeton battled doormat Columbia (2-25, 0-14)in what was in many respects a meaningless game. Already eliminated from March Madness, the team could only expect to play for pride, as an NIT bid seems unlikely due to poor early season non-conference losses.

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The Tigers came out flat, and maintained that tone throughout the game, playing with the motivation of a team that had just been ousted from the conference title race.

Trailing for much of the game, Princeton got a late spark from senior reserve guard Pete Hegseth, whose six points and two assists were critical in helping the sluggish Tigers hold off the Lions 44-40.

Some of Princeton's less-than-stellar play over the weekend can be pinned on the loss of junior forward Konrad Wysocki. Wysocki sat out the two games this weekend with an illness, and his presence was missed. In Saturday's game, the Tigers seemed to be always in search of a spark to get them going. Coming off the bench, Wysocki generally provides that spark with his tough, physical play and the emotion he brings to the floor.

Against Columbia, the spark did not come until late in the game, when Hegseth took it upon himself to jumpstart his lackadaisical teammates.

Princeton now has only its season finale at home tomorrow night against Penn. Though the game's outcome will not affect either team, the Tigers and their home crowd should be juiced for their last shot at the Quakers this year.

If nothing else, Tuesday's game will show how well head coach John Thompson '88 can motivate his squad to give everything it has, despite the disappointment that tomorrow's game will not mean what Princeton fans hoped it would at the outset of the season.