.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Dartmouth
Men's Basketball Grinds Out 65-54 Win over Dartmouth
March 05, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2005
Box Score
On a night when Princeton honored its 1964-65 men's basketball team on the 40th anniversary of that team's magical run to the Final Four, the current version of the Tigers had something to celebrate about as well.
Princeton's grind-it-out 65-54 win over Dartmouth before 4,822 at Jadwin Gym Saturday night not only gave the Tigers (15-12, 6-7 Ivy) their first weekend sweep of the Ivy season but put Princeton in position to earn a .500 league season with a win over league champion Penn Tuesday night.
The Tigers, in a tight game with the Big Green (10-17, 7-7 Ivy) for most of the night, finally pulled away in the final minutes thanks to two key three-point shots on consecutive possessions. The first was a Scott Greenman bomb as the shot clock expired that gave Princeton a 54-48 lead with 5:10 left, and the second was a similar dagger by Luke Owings with just under four minutes left to put the Tigers ahead by nine. "It was a hard game, but our defensive effort in the second half was really good," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott. "We used a little bit of a press to make them take some more time and made it more difficult for them to score."
Bill Bradley and a host of other members of the 1964-65 team watched the Tigers prevail by again shooting better than 50% from the field (17 for 33, 51.5%) and making 23 of their 28 free throws for the game (82.1%). That group also saw senior Will Venable score 12 of his 19 points in the second half and pull within one point of becoming Princeton's 26th 1,000-point scorer.
"I obviously would like to join that group on Tuesday," said Venable, "but I hope I can do a lot more than that. We needed to finish the year strong and it's a great opportunity to do it against Penn."
Princeton, which shot 8 for 16 from three-point range, trailed 29-28 at halftime after Dartmouth's David Gardner scored just before the halftime buzzer. After a halftime ceremony honoring the 1964-65 team, there were three lead changes early in the second half. Princeton used the free-throw line to take as much as a six-point lead with 11 minutes left, but Michael Liddy's three-pointer for Dartmouth with 8:45 left tied the game at 43.
The Tigers' Andre Logan would then hit a three-pointer on Princeton's next possession, however, and Princeton never trailed after that.
Princeton limited Dartmouth to just 37% shooting in the second half. The Tigers defeated the Big Green in Princeton for the 18th straight season.
Princeton's matchup with Penn Tuesday night will be televised live by CSTV (DirecTV Channel 61) beginning at 7:30 p.m.
