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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
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Lions Use Late-Game Run, Hot Shooting to Defeat Princeton, 64-56, In Ivy League Opener
January 12, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Princeton tried its best to come from behind in the second half against a Columbia team that only missed 11 shots the whole night. In the end, however, the Lions had the game's final and most important run.
Brett Loscalzo and Mack Montgomery each hit three-point shots in the final five minutes, breaking open a 49-49 tie, and Columbia then made its free throws in the final minutes on the way to a 64-56 win over the Tigers in the Ivy League opener for both teams in front of 2,364 at Levien Gym.
After Princeton (9-5, 0-1 Ivy) took the lead, 47-44, on Lincoln Gunn's third three-pointer of the second half with 8:22 left, the Lions (10-5, 1-0 Ivy) would make four of their next five shots, three of which came from three-point range, to take a lead they would not relinquish. Loscalzo's three-point shot with 5:06 left after Niko Scott's layup was blocked in the lane made it 52-49 Columbia, and Montgomery's step-back trey with 2:46 left then made it 55-49.
The Tigers, who lost at Levien Gym for the second straight season, trailed by double digits early in the second half before using Gunn's and others hot shooting to get back into the game. Trailing 36-23 in the first minute of the second half, Princeton then used a 13-2 run in a five-minute stretch to make it a close game. Gunn's three-pointer with 14:24 on the clock made the score 38-36 Columbia.
Princeton then trailed 44-39 with 11:16, but scored eight straight points after that to take its first lead of the second half. The final six of those points came on two three-point shots from Gunn, who finished with 13 points.
"I think every game is winnable for us and every game is loseable, but I just wasn't happy with how we came out in the beginning of the game," said Joe Scott, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Princeton. "Columbia saw our lack of aggressiveness on defense and kind of took advantage of that, and we got behind by too much way too early."
The Lions made 14 of their 18 shots in the first half on the way to a 33-23 halftime lead. Columbia made 22 of its 33 shots for the game (67%) and had four players finish in double figures, led by 11 points from Montgomery and Ben Nwachukwu and 11 off the bench from Patrick Foley.
Columbia has won consecutive games against Princeton for the first time since sweeping the Tigers in the 1992-93 season.
Princeton led just once, at 3-2, in a first half that saw the Lions make 13 of their 16 shots from inside the arc. A short jumper by Scott with 8:52 on the clock gave Columbia its first double-digit lead at 20-9, and the Lions would lead by as many as 13 points late in the first half before settling for the 10-point hafltime lead.
Mike Strittmatter made three three-point shots and equalled Gunn's 13 points for Princeton, while Justin Conway had 11points and three assists before fouling out late in the game.
"We can't wait as long as we did to play with the kind of intensity that got us back into the game," Conway said. "But we can't worry too much about it because there's another big game tomorrow."
Columbia made five of its eight three-point shots for the game. The Lions shot 53% in the second half and made four of its six three-point attempts in the second half.