PHILADELPHIA — Head coach John Thompson '88 turned to the crowd and pumped his fist in the final seconds of overtime, summing up the perfect end to a near-perfect Ivy season.
Thompson had every reason to celebrate. Four clutch free throws from junior forward Andre Logan had just fallen to clinch a 76-70 overtime win for men's basketball against Penn. And with that victory, Princeton had extended its winning streak going into the NCAA Tournament to nine games.
Down by two with only seconds to play in regulation, the Quakers went for the win with a three from Eric Osmondson. Though the trifecta missed its mark, no one had time to breathe a sigh of relief, as Tim Begley tipped in the rebound with just .6 of a second left on the clock to tie the nail-biter at 61 and send it into overtime.
Swings in momentum and tension were frequent in the two regulation halves, but overtime belonged to the Tigers.
Princeton pulled ahead early in overtime. Layups from junior forward Will Venable and Logan gave the Tigers a tentative lead.
A three-pointer from Penn's Jeff Schiffner closed the gap to two with 28 seconds remaining, pushing the Princeton lead to a shaky 72-70. Penn was forced to foul Logan, and he came through with his game-clinching free throws.
The Tigers (20-7 overall, 13-1 Ivy League) exacted sweet revenge for their earlier 75-62 loss to the Quakers (17-10, 10-4) on Penn's home turf last night to close out this season's final episode of what Thompson called "one of the best [rivalries] in college basketball."
Like the last Quaker game, the Tigers found themselves down early in the first half. Penn scored the first six points of the game and continued to find the net, claiming a 12-4 lead. This time, however, Princeton didn't panic or start firing threes that never found their mark.
Down eight, the sluggish Princeton offense woke up. The Tigers went on an 8-1 run, soon tying the game at 15. A jumper from Logan gave Princeton its first lead of the night at 17-15.
Though the two teams struggled for the lead late in the half, a Tim Begley three gave the Quakers a 31-29 advantage and momentum going into the locker room after having been down five points less than three minutes before.
The Tigers went inside to junior Judson Wallace for much of the first half. The Princeton center was responsible for 13 of the Tigers' 29 first-half points.
The Quakers' Tim Begley was a huge presence from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. All nine of his first-half points came on threes. In the second half, however, Princeton effectively shut down Penn's outside game.
The second stanza started off benignly enough for Princeton. The Tigers took back the lead, 38-36. Then Penn took over, as the Tigers killed themselves with turnovers and foul trouble midway through the half. With Princeton up by one, the Quakers went on an 8-0 run to claim their biggest lead of the night, 49-40 with 9:27 to go in the game, and the Princeton nail-biting began again.
Four straight points from sophomore guard Scott Greenman ended the Penn run. Greenman hit another key shot later in the game with his team down, 56-55. The guard drained a clean three to grab the lead for the Tigers — a lead the Quakers would not reclaim.
Though the Tiger offense finally found its rhythm midway through the second half, its 19-of-30 shooting from the charity stripe was nervewracking. But Princeton made its freebies when it mattered in overtime. With his team clinging to that 72-70 lead, Logan hit those final four free throws to close out the contest for the Tigers.
Sure, maybe the two teams were playing just for pride, as Princeton had already clinched the outright Ivy title and an NCAA tournament bid.
But considering the game's intensity, it might as well have been for the national title.
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