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Princeton University
Harvard
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Bechtold Leads Princeton Past Harvard In A Thriller
January 11, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2002
Final Stats
Cambridge, Mass. - John Thompson had a simple answer for why Princeton was able to win another thriller over Harvard.
"We had guys make plays when plays needed to be made," Thompson said after a 50-48 win over the Crimson in the Ivy League opener for the Tigers Friday night.
Princeton improved to 5-7 overall and won its first away game of the season. Harvard, who had been 5-1 at home on the season, had won its first two league games of the season against Dartmouth, where Princeton will play Saturday night (7:00).
The win over Harvard may have come at a cost, as starting forward Andre Logan went down with a knee injury in the first half and did not return. Logan will miss the Dartmouth game and will have an MRI in the beginning of the week. The victory came on the same court where Princeton defeated Harvard 69-67 on Kyle Wente's buzzer-beating three-pointer a year ago. This time it was Harvard's turn to try to win it at the end, as the Crimson made one last run in a game that had been back and forth all night.
Princeton led 24-19 at halftime, but Harvard took a 35-28 lead midway through the second half and appeared to be in control. Instead, the Tigers came right back, using three-pointers by senior captains Mike Bechtold and Ahmed El-Nokali to ignite a 15-2 run that made it a 43-37 Princeton lead with 7:44 to go.
Harvard cut it to two with 4:19 to go, but a three-pointer by Bechtold with exactly two minutes left made it 50-45. Harvard missed on its next chance, and Princeton had the ball with an opportunity to put the game away. Instead, Harvard forced a turnover, and Brady Merchant nailed a three to cut it to 50-48 with 54 seconds to go. Princeton's next possession ended with an offensive foul called against Wente, giving Harvard possession with 21.9 seconds to play. The Crimson called timeout with 19 seconds left to set up their last shot, but Andrew Gellert slipped starting his move and Harvard could only manage a leaner by Sam Winter that was short and rebounded by Bechtold as time expired.
Bechtold, who missed most of last year's Ivy League championship run with injuries, led Princeton with 11 points and six rebounds. Ed Persia had another big game for Princeton with 10 points.
The Tiers shot 16 for 33 overall and 9 for 18 from three-point range to off-set 18 turnovers.
Harvard was led by Patrick Harvey's 15 points.