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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
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Dale Leads Cornell To 71-64 Men's Basketball Victory Over Princeton, 14-0 Ivy League Season
March 08, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Louis Dale scored a game-high 21 points, including a pair of three-point shots in the second half that broke open a close game, to lead Cornell to a 71-64 men's basketball victory over Princeton and the Ivy League's first 14-0 regular season in men's basketball since 2003.
Princeton (6-22, 3-10) led the Ivy League champions 32-31 at halftime and was within 51-48 with 8:37 left after Pawel Buczak scored in the paint, but Kyle Koncz missed a three-point shot that would have tied the game on the Tigers' next possession and Dale immediately drilled a three to make it 54-48. The sophomore guard then used a screen at the top of the key on his team's next possession and made another trey with 6:09 left to put his team ahead by nine.
"I thought he showed the leadership to step up and make big shots at key times for them," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson of Dale's second-half performance. "They have a nice mix of experience and young guys who can play and terrific coaching. I congratulate Cornell on an outstanding accomplishment of having a 14-0 season."
The Tigers would get within 57-51 after Jason Briggs scored in the paint with five minutes left, but Cornell's Jason Hartford then tipped in a missed free throw by teammate Jeff Foote with 4:45 left and Cornell (22-5, 14-0 Ivy) never led by fewer than eight after that.
Princeton got strong play off the bench for a second-straight night by freshman forward Kareem Maddox, who scored a team-high 16 points, and sophomore forward Nick Lake, who had 15 points and a trio of three-point shots. Maddox had 12 of his points in the first half, including a three-point shot in an 8-1 Tiger run to close the half that gave Princeton a one-point halftime lead.
Cornell, which became the first team since Penn in 2003 to finish 14-0 in Ivy play and the first Iv team other than Princeton or Penn to accomplish the feat, also got 16 points from Ryan Wittman and 15 points and eight rebounds from Hartford, including several key putbacks of missed shots. The Big Red shot 51% from the game and made six of their 12 three-point attempts in the first half.
"I think we competed hard but we didn't pay enough attention to their shooters, especially in the first half," said Koncz, who had had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Princeton. "They are a great shooting team."
Princeton made 10 three-point shots itself, as six Tigers made at least one shot from behind the arc.
Dale shot 8 for 12 from the field for Cornell and also added four assists. The Big Red, one of the top five free-throw shooting teams in the nation entering the game, shot an uncharacteristic 6 for 16 from the foul line.
After a seesaw beginning to the game, Cornell looked like it would take control midway through the first half when Adam Gore's three-point shot gave his team a 23-15 lead. But the Tigers immediately scored six straight points after that to get right back into it, with Lake's three-point shot at the 7:46 mark pulling Princeton within 23-21.
The Tigers host Penn Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym (7 p.m.) in the season finale for both teams. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.