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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Penn
Conway's Layup Gives Tigers Thrilling 60-59 Overtime Win over Penn
March 07, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2006
Box Score
If you were to pick two reasons behind the Princeton men's basketball team's turnaround season, they'd probably be Scott Greenman and Justin Conway. So it only makes sense that those two were the heroes for the Tigers in a thrilling win against their most bitter rival.
Greenman drove the length of the court in the final 10 seconds of overtime, found Conway with a pass inside and watched with 3,600 others at Jadwin Gym as the junior center made a layup with 2.5 seconds left, giving the Tigers a 60-59 win over Penn in another classic between the two top programs in the Ivy League.
Penn's David Whitehurst had a last-chance three-point attempt as time expired, but his shot fell short.
"I was able to get down the right side of the court almost the whole way down," said Greenman, who finished with seven points, three assists and five steals in his final game. "I got a little space and got into the lane and jumped, Justin's man came off him and I saw he was open."
"Scott really did everything on that play, I just had to make a wide-open layup," said Conway, a walk-on who didn't play in Princeton's first 14 games but averaged better than 34 minutes per game in the final 13 games. "I never would have thought I'd ever be in that situation when the season started."
The win for the Tigers (12-5, 10-4 Ivy), who finished two games behind Penn (20-8, 12-2 Ivy) in the league standings, was more than just their first against the Quakers at Jadwin Gym since 2001. It was also a bit of a final stamp on a season that saw Princeton turn a 3-12 start into a 9-3 finish, with Tuesday's two heroes being perhaps the biggest reasons why. "I think if you look at our team, these guys have been huge reasons we were able to turn it around," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott, referring to Greenman and Conway. "I think Scotty has been the second-best player in the league after (Ibrahim) Jaaber, who is just a great player. And Justin has just made everyone better. He helped bring everyone along to the point we are at now."
Conway finished with a career-high 21 points as well as six assists while playing all 45 minutes.
Princeton looked like it was on its way to an easy win early, using some strong defense and early struggles from Penn to take a 10-1 lead in the first eight minutes and a 28-12 lead at halftime. The Tigers' biggest lead was 18 points, 28-10, when Conway found Kevin Steuerer for a backdoor layup with 25 seconds left in the half.
But Penn responded like a championship team in the second half, making a comeback from 18 points down for the second straight season against the Tigers to send it to overtime. The main reason behind that comeback was Jaaber, who scored 22 points in the second half.
"I felt like they had a comeback in them in the second half," said Scott. "They are the league champions and they were going to play better in the second half."
The Quakers trailed 36-22 with 14 minutes left, but then scored 11 straight points in the next six minutes. Jaaber had nine of the points in that run, Princeton missed four shots and had four turnovers, and Penn was within 36-33 with 8:38 left.
That's when Princeton responded in kind, getting a huge three-pointer and two free throws from Conway to make it 45-38 with 4:40 left.
But Penn's press, and Jaaber, would force the game into overtime with a terrific last minute. Trailing by seven with 1:19 left, Whitehurst made it 49-44. A steal gave the Quakers the ball again, and Jaaber scored again in the lane to make it 49-46. Another steal, and another Jaaber layup, made it 49-48 with 30 seconds left, and Jaaber then tied the game at 50 with two free throws with 24 seconds left.
Greenman had a final chance in regulation for Princeton, but his 15-foot baseline jumper in the final second went in and out.
In overtime, Penn looked like it was taking control when Greg Kachinski scored with three minutes left to make it 58-54. But Conway made two free throws to make it 58-56, and Noah Savage drove and scored with 41 seconds left to tie it at 58. Jaaber was fouled with nine seconds left, but he made just the second of two free throws, setting up Princeton's final play.
"We showed a lot of heart coming back in overtime," said Scott. "Noah was great in overtime, getting a big rebound and then scoring on the other end to tie it."
Jaaber led Penn with 26 points, while Mark Zoller had 11 but fouled out with six minutes left in regulation. The Quakers finished just 1 for 12 from three-point range but came back in the second half thanks to 68% shooting (15 for 22) in those 20 minutes.
Savage added 10 points and five rebounds for Princeton, which made seven of 13 three-point attempts and finished 20 for 38 (53%) from the field for the game.