.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Savage Wins It For Princeton in Final Second at Harvard, 60-59
February 10, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2006
Box Score
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Scott Greenman said after the game that it was "scramble basketball," and that's not what Princeton is usually known for on the basketball court. But on Friday at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion, a frenetic last-minute comeback, and a frenetic last-second shot in literally the final second, was the recipe for a Tiger win.
Noah Savage was the hero for Princeton on this night, as his baseline jumper with under a second left gave the Tigers a 60-59 win before a sellout crowd at Lavietes Pavilion. After a Justin Conway steal with 20 seconds left, Greenman found Savage on the right baseline, where the sophomore made a 15-foot jumper with 0.2 seconds left.
"I saw Scotty was trapped and I figured I had to try to go help get the ball, said Savage, who had 10 points. "I had no idea how much time was left, but I knew I just had to catch it and get rid of it. I knew exactly where I was on the court."
Harvard's long desperation pass attempt from under its own basket was batted away by Conway at the buzzer, setting off a Princeton celebration and extending the Tigers' winning streak to three games.
As clutch as Savage's shot was, it never would have happened without the previous minute of game time, which seemed like it took 10 minutes and erased
"It didn't look good for us when (Brian) Cusworth had that dunk that put them up six," said Savage after the game. "But our press was able to make it happen for us."
Cusworth's dunk put the Crimson (12-8, 4-3 Ivy) up 57-51 with 1:58 left, and Harvard led again by six with 1:17 left after Cusworth made two free throws. Edwin Buffmire then scored on a putback with 55 seconds left, but the Tigers (6-12, 4-1 Ivy) still trailed 59-55. That's when Princeton's pressure took over the game.
The first play came with 43 seconds left, when the Tigers deflected a long Harvard pass into the frontcourt and came away with a steal. 12 seconds later, Greenman hit a huge three-pointer to pull Princeton within 59-58.
After a Princeton timeout, the Tigers' last, Harvard inbounded the ball to Jim Goffredo. But Conway then stole the ball on the sideline, setting up the Tigers' final possession.
"I give us a lot of credit, we never quit on the road, even when we got down eight in the second half," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott. "Guys made plays at the end, like Buffmire's offensive rebound or (Michael) Strittmatter's hook shot before that. We never gave up."
Princeton did indeed trail by eight points with 5:11 left after Harvard's Michael Beal's three-point play in the lane. The Tigers still trailed by seven with 3:40 left, but Kyle Koncz made a big three-pointer from deep on the right wing to make it 55-51 Harvard with 3:09 left.
Koncz led Princeton with a career-high 20 points, shooting 6 for 12 from three-point range. He had 14 of those 20 points in the first half as the Tigers took as much as a nine-point lead, 20-11, midway through the first half.
Harvard scored the final four points of the first half to cut its deficit to 27-25 at halftime, then used a 12-3 run in the first six minutes of the second half to take a 37-30 lead with 14:24 left.
Princeton then made a run of its own to take a 40-39 lead on a Koncz three with 10:42 left before Harvard made another run to take its final eight-point lead.
Cusworth had 20 points to lead Harvard, while Matt Stehle had 13 points and 15 rebounds and Beal had 11 points and nine boards. Harvard did finish 0 for 7 from three-point range but was 21 of 25 from the foul line.
Harvard's leading scorer, guard Jim Goffredo, shot just 1 for 9 from the field and had just six points. He finished 0 for 5 from three-point range.
"We concentrated on stopping that in practice this week and we did a nice job with it, said Scott. "I'm not sure you can stop both of their big guys, and Cusworth hurt us, but I'm happy with how our defense guarded the perimeter."
Greenman finished with 10 points for Princeton, which made 11 of its 30 three-pointers. The Tigers had just nine turnovers, the second straight game Princeton finished with fewer than 10 turnovers.
NOTES * Princeton has now made 31 three-pointers in its last three games. The Tigers had 10 against both Yale and Brown and 11 against the Crimson.
* The Tigers improved to 6-0 this season when scoring 51 or more points.
* Princeton also won in the final second at Lavietes Pavilion in 2001, when Kyle Wente made a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 69-67.
* At 4-1, Princeton is still a game behind Penn in the league standings. The Quakers defeated Dartmouth 70-51 on Friday night.