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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Edged By No. 7 Oklahoma, 58-55
January 03, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2004
Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A desperation 3-point attempt by Princeton's Ed Persia bounced off the rim, and No. 7 Oklahoma hung on to beat the Tigers 58-55 Saturday in the All-College Classic.
The win was No. 400 for Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, 224-81 in 10 seasons at Oklahoma (10-0).
DeAngelo Alexander led Oklahoma with 22 points, and point guard Drew Lavender had 11 points. Persia led the Tigers (5-5) with 19 points, and Scott Greenman had 14.
The teams swapped the lead six times in the first half, with Princeton scoring often on backdoor cuts.
The lead changed hands three times over the final four minutes of the first half, with Princeton taking a 27-26 lead into the intermission after Will Venable knifed through the Oklahoma defense for a layup with 21 seconds remaining.
Oklahoma took the lead for good on its first possession of the second half, when Kevin Bookout muscled inside and laid the ball in for two of his six points.
Oklahoma led by as many as 10 twice in the second half, but Princeton rallied to cut the deficit to three with 2:50 remaining.
Oklahoma ended a six-minute scoring drought when Jason Detrick hit a pair of free throws with 33.9 seconds remaining.