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Princeton University
Brown
Men's Basketball Gets Big Win over Brown, 68-61
February 21, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2004
Box Score
Max Schafer hit a three-point shot to put Princeton ahead for good as part as a 15-4 run late in the second half as the Princeton basketball team came from behind for the fourth straight game to defeat Brown, 68-61, in a battle for first place in the Ivy League played before 5,130 at Jadwin Gym Saturday night.
Princeton (15-7, 8-1) trailed 53-48 with 7:50 to go after a dunk by Brown's Patrick Powers but scored the next five points to tie the game at 53 on two Will Venable free throws with 6:22 left. Then, after Brown missed two opportunities at the other end, Schafer hit a three-point shot from the right corner to give the Tigers a 56-53 lead. Schafer played 16 minutes in the second half after starting guard Ed Persia sustained an injury in the first half. "I guess it was the biggest shot of the season for me, but I'm happier about getting the win than anything else," said Schafer.
It was a big win indeed for the Tigers, a victory that put Princeton two games ahead of both Brown (7-3) and Penn (6-3) in the loss column in the Ivy League race with five games left on its schedule. Princeton hosts Columbia and Cornell next weekend at Jadwin Gym and then travels to Harvard and Dartmouth the weekend after that before concluding the regular season at Penn March 9.
Brown (11-12, 7-3) would cut the Princeton lead to one less than a minute after Schafer's shot, but another freshman, Luke Owings, scored consecutive layups after that to give Princeton a 60-55 lead. Brown would get within 60-57 with under three minutes left, but Owings and freshman Harrison Schaen grabbed offensive boards after missed shots on consecutive possessions and the Tigers hit seven of eight free throws in the final 1:09 to secure the victory.
"We got big contributions from all of our freshmen tonight," said head coach John Thompson. "But they're not freshmen anymore by this point in the season. They've all proven they can do good things when they get in there."
Junior center Judson Wallace also continued doing good things, scoring a game-high 20 points, his fourth-straight game with 20 or more points, including 12 in the decisive second half. Wallace shot 7 for 13 from the field and added three rebounds and two assists.
Mike Martin led Brown with 14 points, while Jason Forte scored 13 points and played 36 minutes despite sustaining an injury in the first half. The Bears made eight of 20 three-point attempts, with Martin connecting on four of his seven shots from behind the arc.
Brown took control of the game early, scoring eight straight points in a 1:30 span to take a 10-2 lead after a Forte three-point shot with 16:17 left in the first half. The Bears would then lead by as many as nine points later in the half, 27-18, after Kilburn's turnaround jumper in the lane with 5:15 on the clock.
For the second straight night, however, Princeton responded with a late first-half run to gain momentum heading into halftime. Down 29-21 with 3:24 left in the half, Princeton scored seven straight to pull within 29-28 at the half. Harrison Schaen's layup made the score 29-23, and Andre Logan then scored on Princeton's next possession to make it 29-25. Owings then hit a three-point shot from the top of the key with 1:26 left to pull the Tigers within 29-28.
Princeton has now come from at least seven points behind in the first half to win for four straight games. The Tigers trailed Cornell by seven in the first half, fell behind by as many as 11 at Columbia and trailed by 14 points Friday night against Yale.
Will Venable added 12 points and four rebounds for Princeton, which shot 48% in the second half after making just 11 of 28 shots (39%) in the first 20 minutes. Princeton outrebounded Brown 38-26, the fifth time in nine Ivy League games the Tigers have outrebounded their opponent by a double-digit margin.
Luke Ruscoe and Kilburn added 12 points apiece for Brown, which fell to 1-53 all-time against the Tigers in Princeton.