Tigers fall short at Penn

“It’s unfortunate the way the game ended,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “I certainly apologize for our players and our university. We felt like it was such a good game. For it to go out that way, it’s too bad.”

The Tigers kept the game close in the second half, never allowing the Quakers to lead by more than eight. Both teams maintained a frantic pace. With less than five minutes on the clock, Princeton fought its way back to a make it a one-point game and kept it tight, but never tied or led ? in the closing stretch.

With 28 seconds on the game clock and the shot clock turned off, the Tigers were down 64-63 and had the possession arrow. After a timeout, Princeton set up Savage for an open three, but his shot skimmed just over the rim.

“We got a wide-open shot, and we weren’t able to nail it,” Johnson said. “And some nonsense kind of broke out later on, and that was on our part.”

The Tigers resorted to fouls as sophomore center Zach Finley and Penn’s Brian Grandieri traded technicals. Grandieri walked out of the gym with his second of the night. After Penn’s Cofield netted his two free throws for a 66-63 Penn lead, Savage dashed the Tigers’ last hope for victory as he picked up a technical while aggressively fighting for position on the inbounds pass near midcourt. Savage immediately apologized to Johnson and walked off the court, having fouled out of the game.

This technical gave Penn two free throws and possession, effectively ending the game for the Tigers.

The Tigers’ composure was tested in the final stretch, with numerous opportunities to tie it up or pull ahead, but Princeton never completed the comeback it fought so hard for.

This was a faceoff between the Ivy League’s historical powerhouses. Either Princeton or Penn has shared or won every Ivy League title since 1987. Both teams began the night with the exact same record in the league: Two wins and two losses, with victories over Harvard and Dartmouth at home and road losses to Columbia and Cornell.

The momentum swung back and forth between the two teams for most of the first half. Princeton looked strong in the first 10 minutes, with its energy culminating with sophomore center Pawel Buczak’s setup for the alley-oop scored by senior guard Kevin Steuerer. This kicked off four straight scoring possessions in which the lead seesawed between the Tigers and the Quakers. Penn finally broke the rhythm with a steal that secured it the lead for the rest of the game.

At the half, Penn led by five. Finley led Princeton with nine points while Steuerer racked up eight and Gunn had seven. Quaker guards Aron Cohen and Remy Cofield ? who combine to average less than five points per game for the season ? together scored 20 points in the first half.

Princeton got into foul trouble early in the night. Both Finley and senior forward and co-captain Kyle Koncz headed to halftime with three fouls, and Finley picked up another just six minutes into the second half. Additionally, Savage had also gathered four fouls with just over 13 minutes on the game clock. Finley and Savage committed the two technical fouls that occurred in the final minute. By the end of the game, all three had fouled out.

“Enough guys stepped up that we had the ball, ready to win the game in the Palestra,” Johnson said. “So foul trouble is what it is. You play enough basketball and stuff happens.”

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The Tigers were led by Finley’s 15 points, while Savage, Gunn and Steuerer also dropped double digits. Princeton shot 50 percent from the floor, while the Quakers managed a meager 38.6. Penn essentially won the game on free throws, netting 31 of 36 from the line, while the Tigers made only one-third of their free shots. Princeton made only three of an attempted 12 shots from behind the arc.

“You never know,” Johnson said. “It’s just one of those things where, on the road, if you make that play, it’s ‘What if?’ Hopefully at some point this year we won’t be saying ‘What if?’ ”