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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
February 12, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2005
Box Score
Maybe it wasn't the prettiest basketball game ever played, not with 54 fouls, five disqualifications and 68 free throws. But for the Princeton men's basketball team and the 4,512 in attendance at Jadwin Gym Saturday night, it sure was nice.
What was nice was a 63-53 win for the Tigers over Columbia, ending Princeton's losing streak at four and giving the Tigers their second Ivy League win. And even though the Tigers shot 53% from the field in the decisive second half, it was Princeton's defense that really won the game.
"I thought our defensive effort was outstanding the whole game," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott. "Even with both of our centers in foul troubles and guys playing out of position, we never stopped playing hard. And when our offense got better in the second half, we came out of it with a win." Princeton (11-10, 2-5 Ivy) never trailed in the game, but still held just a 29-26 advantage after Columbia's Matt Land made one of two free throws with 12:11 left. The Tigers still led just 32-28 with 10:19 left, but Columbia head coach Joe Jones was called for a technical foul and Scott Greenman hit both free throws to give Princeton a six-point lead. When Greenman hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 8:50 left, the Tigers had a nine-point lead.
Columbia (12-9, 3-5 Ivy) would cut their deficit to seven points twice after that, including a final time at 44-37 after a Dragutin Kravic layup with 6:46 left, but Princeton's Max Schafer then hit a key three-point shot to put the Tigers back ahead by double digits on his team's next possession.
The Tigers then salted the game away from the free-throw line, where they finished 31-for-40 for the game. Scott Greenman, who finished with a team-high 17 points, finished 12 for 14 from the line, while Will Venable, who had 15 points, five rebounds and five steals, was 11 for 15 from the line.
Columbia, which lost at Jadwin Gym for the 12th straight year and lost the Tigers for the 22nd time in 23 meetings, shot just 36% from the field and finished 3 for 15 from three-point range. Matt Preston led the Lions with 20 points, but he was Columbia's only player in double figures.
Both teams were foul-prone right from the beginning, and Princeton centers Judson Wallace and Mike Stephens played just a combined 24 minutes due to foul trouble before each fouled out. Princeton even played with 6-5 forward Andre Logan at center for the final minutes of the first half but still held a 20-18 halftime lead.
"We obviously don't ever practice with Andre playing center, but we still were able to fight through it because of our defense," said Scott. "Guys like Max Schafer and Luke Owings played great, and that allowed us to make up for some of the foul trouble."
Schafer had nine points, a season high, while Owings had eight points, three rebounds and three steals in 22 minutes.
Princeton avoided its first five-game losing streak in 24 seasons with the win.
