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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Pennsylvania
Sharpshooting Quakers Sweep Ivy Season With 74-67 Win At Princeton
March 11, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2003
Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. - Despite a 21-point effort from junior guard Ed Persia, the Penn Quakers turned Princeton's Senior Night into their own shooting exhibition. The team shot 67.5% from the field, including 73.7% in the second half, to defeat Princeton in front of 6,231 fans at Jadwin Gym. The win completes a perfect league season for Penn, while Princeton must wait until Sunday night to see if it is invited to the NIT for a fourth time in five years.
A buzzer-beating three-point shot by David Klatsky gave Penn a 28-26 lead at halftime, and it was an indication of things to come in the second half. As a team, Penn made all six of its attempts from beyond the arc, including an attempted alley-oop from Klatsky that actually went in the basket. Princeton turned to a pair of underclassmen to carry it through the contest. Persia scored 22 points and matched a career high with four 3-pointers, all of which came in the second half. Judson Wallace scored 22 points, two below his career best, and made eight of 13 attempts. His layup with four minutes remaining tied the score at 57-57, but on the next trip down the court for Penn, Wallace was called for his fifth foul. His replacement, Konrad Wysocki, would also foul out, as the play of Penn forwards Ugonna Onyekwe (20 points, six rebounds) and Koko Archibong (14 points) was too much for Princeton.
With the score even at 58-58, the 12th tie score of the contest, Jeff Schiffner and Archibong each hit a pair of free throws to extend the Penn lead to four points. Persia, who hit most of his three-pointers from NBA range, stepped back and buried another long jumper to cut the deficit to one point. Schiffner found Archibong coming off a screen for a three-pointer of his own, giving Penn back a four-point lead.
After a miss by Wysocki, Schiffner hit two free throws to open a six-point lead. Will Venable came back for Princeton with a layup, bringing the score to 67-63. Archibong and Pete Hegseth traded free throws, and Onyekwe hit a layup to open a 70-64 lead with 31 seconds remaining. Princeton would miss its next three attempts, and only a three-pointer by Ray Robins, well after the outcome had been decided, would go in for Princeton the rest of the night.
"They are a terrific offensive team," head coach John Thompson said. "For the most part, I thought we were in the right position for most of the game. But they shot 74% in the second half, 67% for the game, and that makes it tough to win."
Both teams now must await selections from different committees on Sunday. The Princeton Tigers will hope for a bid to the NIT, where it lost a tight one-point contest at Louisville last year. The Penn Quakers will be part of the 65-team NCAA field.
"We had to shoot like that tonight," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "There was that one stretch where Persia seemed to make every shot he took. That was about as well as we could shoot."
The contest did mark Senior Night for Princeton. The Class of 2003 - Hegseth, Robins and Wente - has won 67 games and a pair of Ivy League championships over the last four seasons. The Tigers have played in the NCAA tournament once and have participated in at least two NITs.