Men's hoops back on top of Ivies

It may not have been pretty, but the men's basketball team did exactly what it needed to do.

Perhaps the manner in which Princeton (19-7 overall, 12-1 Ivy League) clinched the outright Ivy League title was fitting. After all, the Tigers would never have found themselves on the brink of a bid to the NCAA tournament if it hadn't been for their cool under pressure all season long.

So when two Ivy League cellar-dwellers Harvard (4-23, 3-11) and Dartmouth (3-25, 1-13) pushed Princeton to the wire this weekend, the Tigers did not panic. Instead, with the game on the line, they tightened their defense, executed their offense, made their free throws, and drove home with both games — a 60-51 win over the Crimson and a 64-59 triumph over the Big Green — and a giant silver trophy in their hands.

Friday night in Boston, Princeton trailed 49-47 with just under six minutes to play, but the Tigers held the Crimson without a field goal the rest of the way. With the score tied at 51 and one minute and 24 seconds remaining in the game, sophomore guard Scott Greenman caught a crisp pass from junior forward Andre Logan, shook off a rough shooting night, and drilled a three from the right corner, putting Princeton on top for good.

The next night in Hanover, N.H., the Tigers never trailed in the second half, but were still forced to summon all their powers to hold off the hard charging Big Green. Twice, junior guard Will Venable hit twisting layups in traffic to halt Dartmouth runs, and Princeton made 15 of 16 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the game.

Ironically, the Tigers started off well in both contests. Against Harvard, Princeton jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to four fast break buckets in the first five minutes. As well as the Tigers were playing in the open court, however, the execution of their half-court offense was quite poor, preventing them from turning the game into a rout.

"We thought we could get some transition baskets against them," head coach John Thompson '88 said. "But we got a false sense of security from the success."

It wasn't as if the Crimson were doing much better — they shot just 20.7 percent during the first half. Still, a long bomb by Luke McCrone cut the Tiger lead to six at the break.

After Princeton momentarily stretched its lead to 10 with four points from junior center Judson Wallace, Harvard clawed back. Back-to-back threes by Kevin Rogus with 13:25 to play gave the Crimson its first lead, 40-38.

Over the next seven minutes, the teams traded baskets. The Tigers relied heavily on Wallace, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Princeton then clamped down on defense, setting up Greenman's big shot, and the Tigers hit their final six free throws to hold on.

Against Dartmouth on Saturday night, early on it appeared no such late-game heroics would be necessary. After both teams started slowly, Princeton used a 18-2 run over the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 32-14 lead into the locker room.

But perhaps Big Green head coach Dave Faucher saved the best halftime pep talk for the last game of his 13-year coaching career. His team played like men possessed after the break, putting together its best half of the season.

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"It seemed like the ghosts of all the old players were out there on the court," Thompson said.

After Wallace drained a three to push the Princeton lead to 20, Dartmouth embarked on 13-0 run. A nice drive by Venable briefly quenched the fire, and another three from Wallace boosted the lead back to 14. But another Big Green streak, this time 13-3, cut the deficit to 47-43 with just over three minutes left.

Once again, Venable took the ball to the hole when it mattered most. He posted up along the baseline, spun to his right, sliced in between three defenders, and banked home a reverse layup. Overall, his weekend performance was nothing short of heroic. Despite a painful strained lower back, he played 79 of 80 minutes, scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 boards.

"His back is bothering him, but we need him on the floor," Thompson said. "To call it 'gutty' would be an understatement."

Dartmouth sank several more threes, but Princeton's prowess from the charity stripe was too much to overcome. Wallace, who finished with a game high 24 points, went 12-12 from the line for the night.

When the game clock finally ran out, the Tigers barely flinched, appearing more relieved then overjoyed. It was neither easy nor artistic, but they got the job done.