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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lafayette
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Players Mentioned
Lafayette Comes Back, Defeats Princeton 76-71 In Overtime At Jadwin
January 09, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Princeton had a great first half Wednesday night against Lafayette at Jadwin Gym. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Leopards' second half and overtime were just a little bit better.
Ted Detmer had the overtime basket that put Lafayette ahead for good and scored a team-high 15 points as the Leopards came back from an 18-point first-half deficit to defeat the Tigers, 76-71, in a game that required an extra five minutes after a thrilling ending to regulation.
Trailing 64-61 on the final possession of regulation, Kyle Koncz missed a three-point shot for Princeton (2-12) with just under 10 seconds left. Lincoln Gunn grabbed the offensive rebound and fed the ball back behind the arc, and this time Koncz drilled a three-point shot from the left wing to send the game to overtime.
"Any time you're able to make a shot or a play like that you're going to get some momentum," said Koncz, who scored a team-high 15 points for Princeton. "But we just didn't make enough plays in overtime to sustain the momentum."
Princeton took the lead early in overtime when Zach Finley scored inside, but Lafayette's Matt Betley put his team ahead on the next possession with a three-pointer. After Finley scored again in the paint to put his team ahead 68-67, Detmer scored on a putback with 2:56 left and the Leopards (9-6) never trailed again.
The Leopards led 70-68 and Princeton had the ball with a minute left in overtime, but the Tigers turned it over and Finley was called for an intentional foul, his fifth, on the other end of the court on a fast break. Lafayette's Jeff Kari made both free throws, and Princeton's Koncz would miss a three-pointer with 35 seconds left after a Lafayette turnover.
Princeton led 41-23 with 2:29 left in the first half and 43-26 at halftime, but Lafayette scored the first 11 points of the second half to get back into the game.
"I never felt like it was slipping away, but I felt like we got some things we wanted at the beginning of the second half and we just didn't convert on them," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson. "I think that you can learn how to play when things get tight, whether it's getting guys in the right positions or just making plays, and we didn't do enough of that tonight."
The Tigers shot 55% for the game, including 56% in a first half that featured four three-point shots and five players scoring at least six points. Princeton trailed 13-11 six minutes into the game but then went on an impressive 21-2 run in the next seven minutes to take a 32-15 advantage.
Gunn's three-pointer gave Princeton the lead at 16-13, and the Tigers began a 14-0 run when Kevin Steuerer scored on a driving layup with 10:30 left in the half. Noah Savage then hit two tough baseline jumpers to make it 24-15, and freshman Bobby Foley's three-point shot made it 27-15 with 7:51 on the clock.
Savage's three-point shot with 7:18 left in the half ended the 14-0 run, and Princeton never led by fewer than 11 points the rest of the half.
Princeton wouldn't score for the first five minutes of the second half, however, and Bilal Abdullah's three-point shot with 15 minutes left, which gave him 1,000 career points, ended the 11-0 Lafayette run and pulled the Leopards to within 43-37. The Tigers still led until Abdullah's free throws with 2:32 left made it 60-59 Lafayette, but Marcus Schroeder scored in the lane a minute later to put Princeton back ahead.
Lafayette's Matt Betley put his team back ahead with a foul-line jumper with 42 seconds left, and Michael Gruner's two free throws with 24 seconds left set up Princeton's game-tying possession.
Finley had 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds for Princeton, while Gunn had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. The Tigers shot 61% in the second half but had just 13 field-goal attempts in the second half and 15 turnovers in the second half and overtime.
Abdullah had 14 points for Lafayette, including 11 in the second half. Andrew Brown had 11 points and four assists.
The road team has now won the last six games in the Princeton-Lafayette series. The teams were playing for the 18th consecutive season.
Princeton has an 18-day break for first-semester exams before returning to the court to face Dominican College on Sun., Jan. 27, at 2 p.m. at Jadwin Gym.