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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Harvard
February 05, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2005
Box Score
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Brian Cusworth scored seven of his 10 points in a 10-2 Harvard run late in the second half and Kevin Rogus hit five three-point shots and scored a team-high 17 points as Harvard ended a 10-game losing streak against Princeton with a 61-57 win over the Tigers in a men's basketball game played before a sellout crowd at Lavietes Pavilion Saturday night.
Cusworth, along with David Giovacchini, made perhaps the two biggest plays of the game in the final two minutes to give the Crimson its first win over the Tigers since 1999. Cusworth's tip-in of a missed shot by Giovacchini gave the Crimson the lead for good at 52-50 with 1:51 left, and Princeton's Will Venable was then called for an offensive foul on the other end on a drive to the basket. Then Giovacchini missed again for Harvard, but grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Cusworth underneath for a four-point lead with 1:05 on the clock. Venable then hit two free throws for Princeton (10-8, 1-3 Ivy) to pull the Tigers within two points, and Princeton was still within one possession at 57-54 with 22 seconds left when Jim Goffredo made just the first of two free throws for Harvard. But Venable missed on the other end for Princeton, and the Crimson hit their final four free throws after that.
Harvard (8-11, 3-3 Ivy) trailed 48-44 after Princeton's Scott Greenman hit a three-point shot with 5:40 left, but three Cusworth free throws and a layup by Rogus gave the Crimson a 49-48 lead two minutes later. Greenman then missed two free throws for Princeton on the other end, but the Tigers would tie the game at 50 with 2:15 left on a layup by Judson Wallace.
Wallace had a game-high 23 points for Princeton despite a bad back, shooting 9 for 15 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range, including an off-balance three from the wing that gave the Tigers a last vestige of hope at 59-57 with four seconds left.
The Tigers, who lost both ends of their Ivy weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth for the first time since the 1983-84 season, shot 53% for the game (20 for 38) and an impressive 10 for 21 from three-point range but still fell to 1-3 in league play for the first time since the 1994-95 season. Greenman added 12 points for Princeton, shooting 4 for 5 from three-point range.
Cusworth added 10 rebounds for Harvard, which outrebounded the Tigers 29-17, including 9-3 on the offensive glass. Goffredo added 10 points off the bench for the Crimson, which won for just the second time in the last 29 meetings with Princeton.
Harvard led 28-22 at halftime thanks to a 19-8 spurt in the final 10 minutes of the half. The game was tied at 16 with 6:33 left on the clock, but the Crimson would score 12 of the next 17 points, including a three-pointer from Rogus with 1:40 left, to take as much as a seven-point lead before the break.
Harvard shot 19 of 27 from the foul line compared to just 7 of 13 for the Tigers.
