Gamecenter: Columbia 49, Princeton 54

1st 2nd Final
Columbia (13-11, 4-6 Ivy Ivy) 21 28 49
Princeton (11-12, 2-7 Ivy) 21 33 54
Jadwin Gym – Princeton, NJ Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Two Patrick Foley tied the game at 27 less than five minutes into the second half, and Columbia had a chance to take the lead after a Zach Finley turnover, but John Baumann’s jumper missed the mark and Joe Bova couldn’t put back the offensive board. Kevin Steurer missed a layup, but Marcus Schroeder came up with a steal and Justin Conway put Princeton back on top with a free throw. Following some misses by both teams, Kyle Koncz went 1-for-2 at the line to increase the Tiger lead to two, and when Columbia missed its sixth straight shot, Koncz drilled a three to make it 32-27. Conway took away the ball, and Mike Strittmatter beat the shot clock with a jumper. Another Lion turnover led to two Conway free throws to make it a 9-0 Princeton run and a 36-27 Tiger lead with 8:31 remaining.
Key sign it was over John Baumann put back a missed three-pointer with 24 ticks left to draw Columbia within six, and after an uncharacteristic 0-for-2 performance at the line by Koncz, Patrick Foley missed a layup, but Mack Montgomery came up with the offensive board and Foley connected on a three with seven ticks left. The Lions tried pressing, but Princeton broke the pressure defense and Conway found Strittmatter for a layup with one second left to put away the game.
Key performance Koncz surprisngly gave Joe Scott 23 minutes, and led Princeton in scoring with 13 points. Despite playing through pain, the junior grabbed four rebounds and had an assist and a steal.
Key statistic Princeton held the league’s top three-point shooting team to just 2-for-10 (20.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Tigers were doubling the Lions’ shooting percentage, going 8 of 20 (40.0 percent) on three-point attempts.
Notes

– Baumann bounced back from a scoreless night at Penn to lead all scorers with 17 points, and Foley chipped in 16 off the bench for Columbia.

– Schroeder scored a career-high 12 points for Princeton, while surprise starter Kevin Steuerer capped off a very nice weekend with 10 points and four assists in 34 minutes and Strittmatter contributed in a reserve role with 12 points.

– The Tigers jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never trailed in the game.

– Princeton recorded 16 assists on its 17 field goals, while Columbia was held to just six assists against 15 turnovers.

– The Lions owned the glass, rebounding at 40.7 percent offensively while holding the Tigers to 24.0 percent at their end, however second-chance points were even at 11 per side.

– Princeton didn’t do itself any favors at the line, where it was just 12 of 23 on free throws (52.2 percent), compared to 13 of 15 (86.7 percent) for Columbia.

– Both teams are on the road next weekend, as the Lions head up to Providence to face a suddenly hot Brown (9-16, 4-6 Ivy) squad on Friday, February 23 at 7:00 pm ET, while Princeton will travel to Dartmouth (8-15, 3-7 Ivy) looking for revenge.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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