.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University
Columbia
Men's Basketball Comes From Behind to Win in Overtime at Columbia, 78-71
February 14, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2004
Box Score
NEW YORK - The Princeton men's basketball team has been the victim of slow starts in recent games. Thankfully for the Tigers Saturday night at Columbia's Levien Gym, the Tigers ended the game with a fantastic finish.
Will Venable tied the game at 64 with a layup with five seconds left in regulation and the Tigers then scored the first nine points in overtime, including seven from the free-throw line, as Princeton escaped New York with a 78-71 victory over the Lions and remained in first place alone in the Ivy League.
The Tigers (13-7, 6-1), who never led in the game until the overtime period, recovered from an eight-point halftime deficit mainly due to the play of center Judson Wallace, who scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and the overtime. Wallace made 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts in the final 25 minutes and also added four assists and eight rebounds. "Our center was great the whole weekend," said head coach John Thompson, whose Tigers won against Columbia for the 20th time in the last 21 meetings. "We needed a big lift being down at halftime and he provided it for us."
"My teammates really started to look for me in the second half and I was able to get to the free-throw line and make them," said Wallace, who scored 22 points Friday at Cornell but shot just 4 for 8 from the line in that game. "I felt like I missed a lot of layups in the first half that I should have made and I wanted to make up for that in the second half."
Princeton never would have made it to the overtime without two big three-point shots in a 30-second span late in the game. Trailing 60-56 with 2:22 left, Ed Persia hit a three from the top of the key to pull the Tigers within one. Then, after Columbia's Tito Hill hit a runner in the lane with 1:57 left to put the Lions back ahead 62-59, Scott Greenman nailed a three-pointer from the left baseline with 1:42 left to tie the game.
Princeton would then trail 64-62 in the final minute after two Matt Preston free throws with 1:19 left, and Greenman missed an open three-point shot with 49 seconds left. But Columbia's Colin Davis traveled with 15 seconds left to give the ball back to the Tigers, and Andre Logan then found Venable on a backdoor cut for an easy layin in the final seconds. Preston then misfired on a 30-foot three-point shot for Columbia as time expired.
"We wanted to set something up for Will maybe posting up on a smaller player," said Thompson, "and if we couldn't get that then maybe Judson stepping out for a shot. Andre made a great pass, Will made a terrific cut and we got a great shot in that situation."
The Tigers then took control of the overtime immediately, with reserve Harrison Schaen winning the tip with Wallace on the bench and then hitting two free throws to finally put Princeton ahead eight seconds later. Venable and Wallace would later hit two free throws apiece, and Greenman's driving layup with 1:46 on the clock gave the Tigers an insurmountable 73-64 lead.
"It felt like the right thing to do at the time," Thompson said of his decision to put Schaen in the game at the beginning of the overtime period to potentially win the tip and give Princeton the ball. "I'm not sure I'd do it at the beginning of every game but it felt right then."
Wallace led five different Tigers in double figures. Logan scored 12 points, while Venable and Greenman each scored 11 points. Persia scored 10 points and had four assists for the Tigers, who shot 52% (22-for-42) and improved to 10-0 this season when shooting 50% or better from the field.
Preston scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for Columbia, which led 33-25 at halftime and and 48-40 after Matt Land's layup midway through the second half. Columbia also had an eight-point lead with 8:32 left when Preston drilled a three-point shot from the left wing, but Wallace's driving layup began a 7-2 Tiger run that pulled the Tigers back within 53-50 three minutes later.
Princeton shot 14 for 16 from the foul line in the second half as the Tigers made a season-high 29 free throws compared to just 11 for the Lions. The Tigers finished a string of five games in nine days with a 4-1 record, with two of those wins coming in overtime.
"It's a tough stretch, but everyone knows it's coming and you just have to fight through it," said Thompson. "We knew we'd have to be assertive in getting the ball inside in the second half to get back into it and we were able to do it."
"I felt a little tired in the first half but we all were able to gut it out to make a comeback," said Wallace, whose two 20-point performances this weekend were his first since Dec. 6 at Fresno State. "It'll be nice to come home and have some time to get our rest before we play next weekend."
The Tigers host Yale, a 78-71 loser to Harvard today, Friday night at Jadwin Gym before hosting 6-2 Brown Saturday night.