Buffmire's last-minute heroics fell Dartmouth

If one were to pick a Tiger to come through with a dazzling three-point play in the paint to give his team the lead with under 34 seconds remaining, only to turn around and make a huge block on the other side of the floor to help secure the win, the obvious choice would not be Edwin Buffmire.

However, a look at the stat sheet reveals that — when exactly those events transpired Friday night — chance was decidedly in Buffmire's favor.

The junior reserve guard — who not only leads the team in shooting at 49 percent but also in blocks with 10 — came through for Princeton (10-14 overall, 8-3 Ivy League) offensively and defensively when it mattered most, helping to secure a 63-60 comeback victory over Dartmouth (5-20, 3-9).

With his team trailing 57-56, less than a minute on the clock and the Tigers out of timeouts, Buffmire muscled his way up for a picture-perfect left-handed hook off the glass. Fouled on the play, he coolly knocked down his free throw to give Princeton a two-point advantage.

"I feel like I can score pretty decently in the post," Buffmire said afterwards, "so I thought I'd make something happen."

Unfortunately for the Big Green, Buffmire's work wasn't finished. Dartmouth's second-leading scorer Leon Pattman dribbled the ball upcourt and quickly looked to take Buffmire off the dribble. Pattman got himself a good look at a wing jumper, but Buffmire somehow elevated enough to get a hand on the ball.

"That was probably the play of the game," head coach Joe Scott '87 said. "Buffmire made two huge plays for us, an offensive one and a defensive one."

The latter resulted in an air ball that junior forward Luke Owings managed to corral for the Tigers before being fouled and knocking down a pair of free throws to put his team up four with 9.3 seconds remaining. Big Green guard Mike Lang, who led his team with 12 points, responded with a deep three-pointer five seconds later, but it would not be enough.

When Johnathan Ball's last-second heave to tie the game fell well short of the rim, Princeton knew it had done what it had needed to keep Penn's lead in the Ivy League at just two games.

Buffmire's last-minute bucket and block were the difference for Princeton, but the former was a rarity in that it did not come from the trio of Owings, Greenman and junior center Justin Conway. For the second consecutive game, the Tigers' three upperclassmen starters provided virtually all the offense.

Greenman, who is now averaging almost 18 points per game over his last six games, came up big for the Tigers once again, dropping a game-high 22 points on Dartmouth. His lone assist came with one minute, 21 seconds remaining in the game, when he found Owings open in the corner for three, cutting the Big Green lead down to one, at 57-56, and setting up Buffmire's hook.

Owings finished with 17 points, the same total as Conway, who also led all players with seven rebounds and three assists.

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The three-pronged scoring barrage was exactly what Princeton needed coming off a first half in which, thanks to lethargic defense, the Tigers helped Dartmouth look nothing like the last place team that it is.

"We kept making mistake after mistake after mistake," Scott said afterwards. "We just weren't mentally alert to start the game."

Just under six minutes into the first half, Greenman hit a driving layup to put Princeton up, 12-10. The lead was the Tigers' first of the game — and also its last until the final minute. At that point, the Big Green embarked on an 11-0 run that spanned almost eight minutes of game time and staked Dartmouth to a 21-12 lead.

The Tigers never fully recovered before halftime, with a Jason Meyer three-pointer from the right baseline at the first-half buzzer sending the Big Green into the locker room up, 31-23.

After halftime, the Tigers clawed their way into control by hitting a sizzling 64 percent of their second-half shots.

That sort of accuracy is certainly something Edwin Buffmire can appreciate, and, after his performance on Friday, chances are that he too will start to earn the respect that he deserves.