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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
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Dartmouth
Players Mentioned
Dartmouth Pulls Away Late For 53-43 Win over Men's Basketball
February 23, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Luke Owings nearly led his Tigers back from a double-digit deficit Friday night at Dartmouth. But the Big Green's Leon Pattman had the answers on the other end to help his team pull away for a victory.
Owings scored 10 points in a 16-4 Princeton second-half run that gave his team the lead, but Pattman hit a key jump shot with 1:55 left near the end of the shot clock to propel the Big Green to a closing 13-2 run of its own and a 53-43 victory over the Tigers before 1,023 at Leede Arena.
Princeton (11-13, 2-8 Ivy) took its only lead of the game at 41:40 with 6:17 left when Owings concluded his hot streak with a right-wing three-point shot. After the Tigers couldn't convert following a Dartmouth miss, Pattman's leaner in the lane put his team back ahead by one with 4:53 left.
Pattman, who had 14 points, then hit the contested 15-footer to put his team ahead 45-41, and Johnathan Ball put the final nail in the coffin with a short jumper in the lane that put the Big Green (9-15, 4-7 Ivy) up 49-43 with 35 seconds left.
"We put ourselves in position to win the game, but we just didn't capitalize on it," said Joe Scott, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Princeton. "We played well in that stretch to get the lead and then had chances on layups and drives that we couldn't consolidate. Pattman made some nice plays for them on some tough shots late in the game."
Princeton trailed 36-25 with 14 minutes left, but Owings then got hot from the field to push the Tigers to their only lead. His 10 points in Princeton's run came on a pair of three-pointers and two nice post moves. Mike Strittmatter and Kyle Koncz also had big shots in the stretch, but the Tigers would make just one field goal, a Lincoln Gunn steal and layup with 1:10 left, in the final six minutes.
Owings had 15 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench for Princeton. The Tigers made four of six three-point shots in the game, including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from Owings.
Ball added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Dartmouth, which was held to just 35% shooting in the second half. The Big Green outrebounded Princeton 29-25, including 11-6 on the offensive glass.
Dartmouth, and Pattman in particular, started the game hot from the field, taking a 19-8 lead 11 minutes into the game when Ball scored inside. The Big Green led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Princeton would go on a 9-2 run late in the half to pull within 26-21 at halftime.
"We have to begin games better than we have been," said Scott. "That stretch we had in the second half needs to be something we do right from the beginning of the game."
Princeton plays at Harvard Saturday night (7 p.m.)
NOTES
* The Tigers, who average nearly 22 three-point attempts per game, took just one three-pointer in the first half Friday night. Princeton finished the game with just six three-point shots, 16 below its season average.
* Freshman center Pawel Buczak earned his first minutes of the season Friday night, playing eight minutes off the bench. He had a first-half hook shot for his two points as well as two second-half assists.