Men's Basketball: Victory slips away on a historic night

One night after snapping a three-game losing streak with a 58-55 victory over Harvard (11-13 overall, 3-7 Ivy League), Princeton (10-12, 5-4) ran out to a 25-14 lead over the Big Green (8-16, 6-4). The Tigers pushed their lead to 13 points with eight minutes, 22 seconds remaining when junior center Zach Finley found junior guard Marcus Schroeder on a great backdoor cut for an easy layup.

Princeton had held the Ivy League’s leading scorer, Dartmouth forward Alex Barnett, to no points on four shooting attempts up to that point. But then Barnett scored six points on a three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play.

Sophomore guard Dan Mavraides hit a driving layup with 15 seconds remaining in the first half to push Dartmouth’s deficit to seven. Then Barnett hit the most crushing of his shots, a three-pointer as time expired, to close the gap to 34-30.

“It’s a 40-minute game,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “I do think those times are important, and we haven’t been great right before the half.”

Dartmouth’s run at the end of the first half marred the Tigers’ outstanding half on offense, as Princeton hit 13 of its 20 shots to go 65 percent shooting. Princeton turned the ball over only four times, and it knocked down three of its five three-point attempts and five of its six free-throw attempts.

On the other end, however, the Big Green nabbed six offensive rebounds, which it translated into seven extra points.

The offensive rebounds were a painful reminder of what happened to the team last weekend in New Haven, Conn., where the Bulldogs’ domination on the offensive glass was crucial to their victory.

Dartmouth immediately came out of the locker room with a better defensive effort and promptly closed the gap to one on a three-point play by center Elgin Fitzgerald.

The teams battled back and forth throughout the second half, as the score was tied seven different times.

With 5:40 left in the game and the score knotted at 53, Schroeder drove inside and found freshman guard Doug Davis open behind the arc. Davis calmly knocked down the three-pointer to put the Tigers back on top.

Moments later at the other end of the floor, Mavraides poked the ball away from Dartmouth guard Jabari Trotter and out-hustled him to the loose ball. Mavraides then raced down the court, but he was fouled hard on his way to the basket.

Mavraides knocked down one of his two free throws to push the score to 57-53, Princeton’s largest lead since its 34-30 advantage at halftime. It was the biggest lead for either team in the second half.

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On the other end, however, Barnett found a cutting Trotter for the backdoor layup and the foul, and the lead was skinned back to one. On the Big Green’s next possession, Barnett got switched onto Mavraides, and he used his size advantage to hit a short-range jumper for a 58-57 lead.

Mavraides responded, cutting through the lane for a floater and a foul. He knocked down the free throw to give the Tigers a 60-58 lead with only 1:47 left in the game.

But Dartmouth responded with another layup. In the end, it came down to free throws. Davis was able to hit one of his two shots to give the Tigers a one-point edge with a little more than a minute left, but Barnett also got to the line, and he knocked down two.

With Princeton down by one, Mavraides got a good look from the foul line, but his jumper was a bit long. Barnett got the rebound, and Princeton was forced to foul.

Mavraides had a last-second three-point attempt that could have forced overtime, but it fell short.

When all was said and done, Dartmouth shot a reasonable 46.3 percent for the game, scoring 15 points off second-chance opportunities.

Davis, Mavraides and junior center Pawel Buczak all turned in extremely solid performances on the offensive end. Mavraides led the Tigers with 19 points on six-of-12 shooting. He also knocked down six of his seven free-throw attempts and picked up five rebounds and a pair of steals.

“We didn’t bring it on the defensive end,” Davis said.

“We were awful defensively,” Johnson added. “Beginning, middle, end: We were awful. Sixty-three points — we can get away with that, winning the ball game, but we gave up 66. [Barnett] certainly got in a flow, made a couple of shots that were tough, and we can live with that. But not enough of them were difficult.”

Princeton headed into the game with hopes of a weekend sweep after out-dueling the Crimson the night before.

The Tigers trailed 28-24 at the break, despite shooting 52.6 percent in the first half. Princeton’s 11 first-half turnovers resulted in 11 Harvard points.

The Tigers turned up the heat on the Crimson, however, allowing it only six points in the first ten minutes of the second half. During that stretch, Princeton methodically chipped away at its deficit and eventually put together a decent-sized cushion.

Buczak knocked down a layup coming out of halftime, and a pair of back-to-back Schroeder three-pointers pulled the Tigers to within one at 33-32.

Davis got into the paint a couple minutes later to even the score at 34, and jumpers by freshman guard John Comfort and sophomore forward Kareem Maddox gave Princeton a five-point lead. Davis added a jumper of his own, and bringing the score to 41-34.

Harvard responded with a furious 11-2 run to take a 45-43 lead, but Davis was there once again to cool the Crimson fires, knocking down a three-pointer with 6:13 left. It was Princeton’s last field goal of the game.

The Tigers then got aggressive and went to the hoop with frequency and ferocity. As a result, Princeton had a flurry of attempts — 14 in all — from the charity stripe.

Princeton never trailed after Maddox knocked down a free throw to put Princeton up 50-49. The Tigers made 12 of their 14 attempts down the stretch.

Davis led Princeton with 12 points on five-of-seven shooting. He committed no turnovers and recorded two assists. The Tigers shot 46.2 percent from the field and an impressive 88.2 percent from the line for the game.

Harvard guard Drew Housman led his team with 16 points on five-of-nine shooting. Guard Jeremy Lin added 13 points.

Though the Tigers came away with a split, it was a disappointing weekend for Princeton. The Tigers have proven that they can play with the best the Ivy League has to offer, but they haven’t shown an ability to consistently bring the intensity and commitment they need to the court.

“I just don’t think every game, especially the games that we lose, that we are coming out with the same intensity as in some other games,” Mavraides said. “I know that we can. I know that we can bring it every day — we do it in practice every day.”

Princeton has been at its best when it plays stifling defense, and that’s what the team plans to focus on now. Though it feels like ages ago, the Tigers did jump out to a 4-0 start in Ivy League play. They need to rediscover that moxie, but with only four games left in conference play and a long climb to the top of the standings, time is running out.