M. hoops saved again

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 last night — chance was decidedly in Buffmire's favor.

The junior reserve guard, who not only leads the team in shooting at 50 percent, but also in blocks, with 10, came through for Princeton (9-14 overall, 7-3 Ivy League) offensively and defensively when it mattered most, helping to secure a 63-60 comeback victory over Dartmouth (5-19, 3-8).

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, Buffmire 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, stuffing.

The result was an air ball that junior forward Luke Owings managed to corral for Princeton before being fouled. Owings knocked down his free throws to put his team up by four with nine and three tenths seconds remaining. Big Green guard Mike Lang, who led his team with 12 points, responded with a deep three-pointer five seconds later, but two final free throws from senior point guard Scott Greenman sealed the win.

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.

Greenman, who is now averaging almost 18 points per game over his last six games, came up big for Princeton 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.

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

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

Just under six minutes into the game, Greenman hit a driving layup to put Princeton up 12-10. The lead was Princeton's 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 and landed Dartmouth a 21-12 lead.

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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.

Over the first 20 minutes, Dartmouth shot over 59 percent from the floor, compared to the Tigers' 40 percent, and managed to get eight different players into the scoring column, despite a scoreless first half from leading scorer Lang.

Lang returned to form and made things interesting late, but only after the Tigers had 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 last night, chances are that he too will start to earn the respect that he deserves.