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Tigers Hold On For 44-42 Win at Lafayette, Fourth Straight Win
November 28, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Princeton didn't make a field goal in the final 9:54 against Lafayette Tuesday night at the Kirby Sports Center, but a terrific first 10 minutes of the second half and a defensive stand on the game's final possession was enough for the Tigers to get their fourth straight win.
The Tigers scored the first 12 points of the second half in a terrific four-minute surge, then held on as Lafayette's Andrew Brown missed a layup before the final buzzer, on the way to a 44-42 win over the Leopards in another nailbiter in a matchup being played for the 17th straight year.
Princeton (4-1) trailed 22-19 at halftime but quickly took control of the game as soon as they got the first possession of the second half. Justin Conway's hook shot pulled the Tigers within one, and Kyle Koncz then put his team ahead for good with a three-pointer 35 seconds later. A backdoor layup by Marcus Schroeder and another three-pointer, this time by Luke Owings, made it 29-22 Princeton three minutes into the half, and another driving layup from Conway completed the 12-point run with 15:42 left.
Lafayette (1-6) trailed by five in the final minute, but Matt Betley's three-point play made it 44-42 with 55 seconds left. After Lincoln Gunn missed a three-pointer for Princeton, Brown drove the lane for Lafayette in the final seconds, but his layup was short and Princeton's Michael Strittmatter grabbed the loose ball as time expired.
"I thought we were very good for the first 15 minutes of the second half," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott. "We missed our foul shots and they trapped us a couple times late, and that let them get back to where they had a shot at the end. I think we can be as good as we were in those 15 minutes for the whole game."
Koncz had 12 points for Princeton, while Betley led the Leopards with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Princeton, which won at Lafayette for the third straight time, took 24 of its 33 shots from three-point range, making nine of those 24 attempts. Kyle Koncz had four of the nine, including three in the first half, while Owings scored a season-high 12 points, making three of his five attempts from behind the arc.
The Tigers shot 7 for 12 from the field in the second half (58%) and led by nine points, 41-32, with 7:12 left, but made just three of six free throws the rest of the game to help the Leopards have a chance on the final possession.
Princeton's defense held Lafayette to just 39% shooting for the game and 35% shooting in the second half, including a 1 for 9 performance from the three-point line in the final 20 minutes.
"We talked at halftime about them getting open looks because of some defensive mistakes in the first half," said Koncz, who has made 17 of his 31 three-point shots in Princeton's first five games. "I think we did a much better job defensively in the second half of making them work harder to get good shots."
The Tigers have allowed 39, 45, and 42 points in their last three games. Lafayette had 17 turnovers and made just 4 of 18 shots from three-point range for the game.
Lafayette, which lost its sixth straight game, scored the game's first seven points and still led by seven at 15-8 midway through the first half. Koncz then made two three-pointers for Princeton to cut that deficit to 15-14 before Lafayette's Bilal Abdullah made two free throws in the final second of the first half to put Lafayette ahead by three at halftime.
Princeton plays at Marquette's Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic this weekend, facing North Dakota State in the tournament's first round Friday night (6:30 ET) at Milwaukee's Bradley Center.
NOTES
* The road team has now won the last five games in the Princeton-Lafayette series. The Tigers have won at Kirby Sports Center in 2002, 2004 and 2006, while Lafayette won at Jadwin Gym in both 2003 and 2005.
* The 2004 game at Kirby had a similar finish to Tuesday's game. Lafayette's Marcus Harley missed a short jumper in the lane as time expired in that game, giving the Tigers a 40-38 win over the Leopards.
* Princeton has four wins in its first five games for the first time since the 2003-04 season. The Tigers last had five wins in their first six games in 1997-98, when Princeton won its first seven games before falling to second-ranked North Carolina.
* Princeton won Marquette's early December tournament 10 seasons ago at the Bradley Center, defeating Rice and then host Marquette in what was then known as the First Bank Classic.