Stellar second half leads to win

For its game against Manhattan College this past Wednesday, the men's basketball team could have ridden "the 1" all the way into the Bronx. Instead, the Tigers took the bus — then rode ones all the way to their third consecutive victory.

Princeton (3-1 overall) closed out a stellar second half with 10 consecutive game-sealing free throws in the final minute of play, securing a 57-45 comeback win over the Jaspers (2-2). The Tigers came out cold at Draddy Gymnasium — located at 242nd Street, the final stop on the New York City subway's 1 line — but drained an incredible 80 percent of their field goals in the second half to bounce back from a 20-14 halftime deficit.

"It was like night and day, offensively, from the first half to the second half," head coach Joe Scott '87 said. "I thought we were terrific in the second half. We were aggressive, we moved the ball. Guys, when they were open, stepped in to bang the shot. Everybody played well."

Equally impressive was Princeton's late success at the charity stripe — a welcome departure from the team's season-opening performance at the Black Coaches' Association Classic, where it shot just 66 percent from the line over three games.

"We don't really work on free throws a lot, but all of us are good shooters, so it's not like we can't make them," said freshman point guard Marcus Schroeder, who connected on all five of his attempts against Manhattan. "It just comes down to going up to the line — it's wide open, it's 15 feet away — and you've got to knock it down."

That the Tigers would be in such an enviable position seemed unlikely when, just five minutes into the game, junior forward Kyle Koncz picked up his second foul and went to the bench for the rest of the half. Without its leading scorer, Princeton immediately fell victim to a 12-0 Jasper run, falling behind 16-5 midway through the opening period.

But with one stunning play, Koncz's substitute, junior forward Noah Savage, ended the Manhattan run and ensured that the Tigers' deficit never crept past 11 points. With eight minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half, Savage dribbled to his left, got a step around his defender and rocketed toward the rim for an emphatic, one-handed dunk, the sheer explosiveness of which surpassed any Princeton throw-down in recent memory.

From there, the rejuvenated Tigers fought their way back into the game, pulling within four points of the lead as halftime drew near. On the final play of the half, however, another huge momentum shift seemed to swing the Jaspers' way.

With three seconds remaining on the first-half clock, Manhattan's Jamel Ferguson took a pass from a teammate and frantically pushed the ball down court. Just when it seemed he had time enough only to shoot the ball, Ferguson instead fired a pass underneath the basket to cutting teammate Arturo Dubois.

Dubois tossed a layup through the net and — as the entire Princeton bench leapt to its feet to protest that the buzzer had already sounded — the referees signaled that the bucket would count. While his players appealed the ruling in shocked disbelief, Scott stormed off the court, face red, berating the referees with unparalleled fury.

In the locker room at halftime, Scott ensured that his and the team's frustration — not only with the call, but with their first-half effort — would be channeled productively.

"I was upset at halftime, just with our tentativeness offensively," Scott said. "There were missed layups, missed opportunities ... I challenged them at halftime on their belief — their belief of us being good at the things we do."

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No Tiger did more to turn his teammates back into believers than Koncz, who returned to the court and scored every one of his team-high 13 points after halftime. After taking just one shot in the first half, Koncz made good on all four of his second-half tries, including three from three-point range. Koncz credited his late scoring outburst to the time he spent on the bench in the first half.

"It gave me a good chance to see what was going on out on the court," Koncz said. "I saw how well we were running our offense and the open shots we were getting, so I knew where I could get my shots. It helped me see, for the second half, what I could do."

With Koncz back on the floor, the Tigers hit their stride on both ends of the floor. A rare three-pointer by Schroeder with 8:42 left in the game put Princeton ahead to stay, 36-34. Defensively, the Tigers were able to shut down the six-foot, ten-inch Dubois, who led all scorers with 10 first-half points, but got off just two shots over the final 20 minutes.

When asked after the game if Wednesday's second half had been the best Princeton has played in his two-plus years with the program, Koncz began to nod.

"Since I've been here, yeah, I think it is," Koncz said. "Defensively, we played well and, offensively, we made shots and everyone contributed. We've got to keep working hard and playing like we did in the second half every half, then good things might happen."