Cornell hangs on for season sweep of Princeton

If it wasn't already the case, the 2004-05 season has now become a nightmare for the men's basketball team. On Saturday, even the fickle rim of the basketball hoop turned against them.

The Tigers (13-12 overall, 4-7 Ivy League) rolled into Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday night to take on Cornell (12-13, 7-5), riding high on the heels of Friday night's solid victory over Columbia. But, as has become habit, Princeton built up a big first-half lead only to see it disappear down the stretch, and the Big Red came away with a 52-49 victory.

Princeton had an opportunity to take the lead in the game's final seconds, but senior center Judson Wallace's layup attempt rolled around the rim for what felt like an eternity and fell out. The basket would have given the Tigers the lead with less than five seconds to play. Instead, Cornell completed its first season sweep of Princeton in 20 years.

The Tigers also had to endure the loss of senior guard Will Venable early in the second half. Venable drove into the lane and created contact under the basket, but was whistled for an offensive foul. He fell hard to the floor on the play, badly bruising his rib cage in the process. He immediately left the game and did not return for the rest of the night.

It was yet another disappointing chapter in head coach Joe Scott '87's inaugural season. The Tigers once again failed to hold a double-digit lead, and the team looked sluggish at times following the emotion of Friday night's win.

The game didn't look that way from the opening tip, though. Princeton took control immediately and zoomed to a 14-3 lead in the game's first 10 minutes. The Tigers took advantage of strong outside shooting, especially from sophomore forward Luke Owings. Owings had perhaps the best game of his career, scoring 13 points in the first half and finishing with a game-high 16 points on six-of-seven shooting. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go with three assists.

Despite the fast start, Princeton struggled at times to get its offense into gear. The Tigers had trouble controlling the ball and seemed to benefit as much from the Big Red's offensive struggles as from their own shooting. Cornell rallied late in the half, but the Tigers got a last-second layup from senior center Mike Stephens to give them a 27-18 lead at the break.

The second half was an entirely different story, reminiscent of the two teams' meeting earlier in the season. In that game, Cornell used a 20-0 run in the second half to overwhelm Princeton, which couldn't hit its shots late. On Saturday, the Big Red again came out shooting, and the Tigers' offense had no answer.

Princeton shot just seven-of-21 (33.3 percent) in the second half and only one-of-seven from behind the arc. Cornell, meanwhile, was paced by the outside shooting of guard Cody Toppert, who led the Big Red with 15 points. Backcourt mate Jason Canady added 11.

Cornell was also helped by a notable disparity in trips to the foul line. The Big Red were 20-of-22 from the stripe for the game, including 14-of-14 in the second half. The Tigers didn't get to the line until midway through the second half and finished the game seven-of-eight.

Much of the Tigers' offensive struggles in the second half seemed to come with the team's main interior players out of the game. With Wallace in early foul trouble and Venable out of the game, Princeton was forced to rely solely on outside shooting late in the game. When the Tiger shooters went cold, the offensive production nearly disappeared. Stephens did give Princeton an inside presence, though, and displayed his trademark baby hook shot on his way to eight points.

Still, Stephens' performance off the bench wasn't enough to help the Tigers, who are now in danger of enduring their first ever sub-.500 Ivy League season. There were good signs from Saturday's game — Princeton again came out looking like a well-oiled machine, and the team's younger players held their own with the seniors on the bench — but once again, the Tigers showed a frustrating inability to close out an opponent.